My spirit shall be wasted, my days shall be shortened, and only the grave remaineth for me.

Spiritus meus attenuabitur; dies mei breviabuntur: et solum mihi superest sepulchrum.

Broken my will to live, shortened my days, the grave my only prospect;

I have not sinned, and my eye abideth in bitterness.

Non peccavi, et in amaritudinibus moratur oculus meus.

my eye lingers on sights of bitterness, never through my fault!

Deliver me, O Lord, and set me beside thee, and let any man’s hand fight against me.

Libera me, Domine, et pone me juxta te, et cujusvis manus pugnet contra me.

Lord, wouldst thou but vindicate me, and set me right with thee! I care not who else is for or against me.

Thou hast set their heart far from understanding, therefore they shall not be exalted.

Cor eorum longe fecisti a disciplina: propterea non exaltabuntur.

For these, at least, I care not; thou hast robbed their hearts of all discernment, and they shall have no cause for boasting.

He promiseth a prey to his companions, and the eyes of his children shall fail.

Prædam pollicetur sociis, et oculi filiorum ejus deficient.

Small thanks a man has for counting out the spoils, while his children go hungry!

He hath made me as it were a byword of the people, and I am an example before them.

Posuit me quasi in proverbium vulgi, et exemplum sum coram eis.

A public by-word God has made me, a warning in all men’s sight,

My eye is dim through indignation, and my limbs are brought as it were to nothing.

Caligavit ab indignatione oculus meus, et membra mea quasi in nihilum redacta sunt.

my eyes grown dim, my whole frame wasted away, in my resentment.

The just shall be astonished at this, and the innocent shall be raised up against the hypocrite.

Stupebunt justi super hoc, et innocens contra hypocritam suscitabitur.

Here is sore bewilderment for honest hearts; angrily do innocent men complain, to see knaves prosper,

And the just man shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.

Et tenebit justus viam suam, et mundis manibus addet fortitudinem.

will the just be true to their resolve any longer? Will they be encouraged to keep their hands clean?

Wherefore be you all converted, and come, and I shall not find among you any wise man.

Igitur omnes vos convertimini, et venite, et non inveniam in vobis ullum sapientem.

Nay, sirs, return to the charge as often as you will; I do not look to find a wise man among you.

My days have passed away, my thoughts are dissipated, tormenting my heart.

Dies mei transierunt; cogitationes meæ dissipatæ sunt, torquentes cor meum.

Swift pass my days, my mind distracted with whirling thoughts,

They have turned night into day, and after darkness I hope for light again.

Noctem verterunt in diem, et rursum post tenebras spero lucem.

that make night into day for me, as through the hours of darkness I await the dawn.

If I wait hell is my house, and I have made my bed in darkness.

Si sustinuero, infernus domus mea est, et in tenebris stravi lectulum meum.

Waiting for what? The grave is my destined home; among the shadows I must make my bed at last;

I have said to rottenness: Thou art my father; to worms, my mother and my sister.

Putredini dixi: Pater meus es; Mater mea, et soror mea, vermibus.

only from corruption I claim a father’s welcome, mother’s and sister’s greeting the worms shall offer me;

Where is now then my expectation, and who considereth my patience?

Ubi est ergo nunc præstolatio mea? et patientiam meam quis considerat?

what hope is this? Wait I patiently or impatiently, who cares?

All that I have shall go down into the deepest pit: thinkest thou that there at least I shall have rest?

In profundissimum infernum descendent omnia mea: putasne saltem ibi erit requies mihi?

Into the deep pit I must go down, all of me; even there, in the dust, shall I find rest?