1 But now they hold me in derisionwho are younger than I,Whose fathers I should have disdainedto rank with the dogs of my flock.
2 Such strength as they had meant nothing to me;their vigor had perished.
3 In want and emaciating hungerthey fled to the parched lands:to the desolate wasteland by night.
4 They plucked saltwort and shrubs;the roots of the broom plant were their food.
5 They were banished from the community,with an outcry like that against a thief—
6 To dwell on the slopes of the wadies,in caves of sand and stone;
7 Among the bushes they brayed;under the nettles they huddled together.