16. I call my servant, and he doesn’t answer;I myself must beg him.
17. My breath stinks to my wife;I am odious to my children.
18. Even the young despise me;I get up, and they rail against me.
19. All my closest friends despise me;the ones I have loved turn against me.
20. My bones cling to my skin and flesh;I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21. Pity me. Pity me. You’re my friends.God’s hand has truly struck me.
22. Why do you pursue me like God does,always hungry for my flesh?
23. Oh, that my words were written down,inscribed on a scroll
24. with an iron instrument and lead,forever engraved on stone.
25. But I know that my redeemer is aliveand afterward he’ll rise upon the dust.
26. After my skin has been torn apart this way—then from my flesh I’ll see God,