With kings and counselors of the earth,
Who built up [now desolate] ruins for themselves;

“Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt;
He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.

“He pours contempt on princes and nobles
And loosens the belt of the strong [disabling them].

“Is there no end to [your futile] words of wind?
Or what plagues you [so much] that you [so boldly] answer [me like this]?

“O earth, do not cover my blood,
And let there be no [resting] place for my cry [where it will cease being heard].

“Oh, that a man would mediate and plead with God [for me]
Just as a man [mediates and pleads] with his neighbor and friend.

“If indeed you [braggarts] vaunt and magnify yourselves over me
And prove my disgrace (humiliation) to me,

“For he has oppressed and neglected the poor;
He has violently taken away houses which he did not build.

“If you return to the Almighty [and submit and humble yourself before Him], you will be built up [and restored];
If you remove unrighteousness far from your tents,

“Would He contend against me with His great power?
No, surely He would give attention to me.

Then let my shoulder fall away from its socket,
And my arm be broken off at the elbow.

“His young ones suck up blood;
And where the slain are, there is he.”