1 I perish, carried away by the wind, and I seek for burial, and obtain it not. 2 Weary I intreat; and what have I done? and strangers have stolen my goods. 3 Who is this? let him join hands with me. 4 For thou hast hid their heart from wisdom; therefore thou shalt not exalt them. 5 He shall promise mischief to his companions: but their eyes have failed for their children.
6 But thou hast made me a byword among the nations, and I am become a scorn to them. 7 For my eyes are dimmed through pain; I have been grievously beset by all. 8 Wonder has seized true men upon this; and let the just rise up against the transgressor. 9 But let the faithful hold on his own way, and let him that is pure of hands take courage. 10 Howbeit, do ye all strengthen yourselves and come now, for I do not find truth in you.
11 My days have passed in groaning, and my heart-strings are broken. 12 I have turned the night into day: the light is short because of darkness. 13 For if I remain, Hades is my habitation: and my bed has been made in darkness. 14 I have called upon death to be my father, and corruption to be my mother and sister. 15 Where then is yet my hope? or where shall I see my good? 16 Will they go down with me to Hades, or shall we go down together to the tomb?
About this text. This is Sir Lancelot Brenton’s 1851 translation of the Septuagint — the Greek Old Testament the Orthodox Church reads, rather than the Hebrew text behind most English Bibles. It is in the public domain. Words in italics are ones Brenton supplied that the Greek does not have; he marked them so that a reader could tell the difference, and they are kept that way here. The numbered notes are his own. Its English is Victorian, and does not match the modern English of the New Testament pages on this site.