¹Mweya wangu wapera, mazuva angu adzima, Hwiro hunondimirira.

¹My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are mine.

²Zvirokwazvo, vanondiseka vaneni; Ziso rangu rinoramba richiona kutsamwa kwavo.

²Are there not mockers around me? and doth [not] mine eye abide in their provocation?

³Zvino ndipikirei, muve rubatso rwangu kwamuri; Ndianiko achabatana maoko neni?

³Lay down now [a pledge], be thou surety for me with thyself: who is he that striketh hands with me?

⁴nekuti makavanzira moyo yavo kunzwisisa; Naizvozvo hamungavakudzi.

⁴For thou hast hidden their heart from understanding; therefore thou wilt not exalt [them].

⁵Iye, anokwirira shamwari dzake kuti dzitapwe, Meso avana vake achapera.

⁵He that betrayeth friends for a prey -- even the eyes of his children shall fail.

⁶Iye akandiita shumo pakati pavanhu; Ndinosemwa pachena.

⁶And he hath made me a proverb of the peoples; and I am become one to be spit on in the face.

⁷Ziso rangu harichaoni nemhaka yokuchema, Mitezo yangu yose yafanana nomumvuri.

⁷And mine eye is dim by reason of grief, and all my members are as a shadow.

⁸Vanhu vakarurama vachakanuka nazvo, Asine mhaka achamukira vasingadi Mwari.

⁸Upright men [shall be] astonished at this, and the innocent shall be stirred up against the ungodly;

⁹Kunyange zvakadaro wakarurama acharambira panzira yake, Uye ana maoko akanaka acharamba achisimba.

⁹But the righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall increase in strength.

¹⁰Asi imwi mose dzokai, muuye zvino; nekuti handingawani munhu akangwara pakati penyu.

¹⁰But as for you all, pray come on again; and I shall not find one wise man among you.

¹¹Mazuva angu apfuura, zvandaivavarira zvakona, Iyo mifungo yomoyo wangu.

¹¹My days are past, my purposes are broken off, the cherished thoughts of my heart.

¹²Vanoisa rima pachinambo chechiedza; chiedza chiri pedo pamberi perima.

¹²They change the night into day; the light [they imagine] near in presence of the darkness.

¹³Kana ndine tariro, Sheori ndiyo imba yangu; Ndakawadza nhovo yangu murima;

¹³If I wait, Sheol is my house; I spread my bed in the darkness:

¹⁴Ndakati kuhwiro, Ndiwe baba vangu; Nokuhonye, Ndiwe mai vangu nehanzvadzi yangu;

¹⁴I cry to the grave, Thou art my father! to the worm, My mother, and my sister!

¹⁵Zvino tariro yangu iripiko? Kana iri tariro yangu, ndianiko angaiona?

¹⁵And where is then my hope? yea, my hope, who shall see it?

¹⁶Ichaburukira kumazariro eSheori, Kana zororo yavapo paguruva.

¹⁶It shall go down to the bars of Sheol, when [our] rest shall be together in the dust.