Their lives were filled with untold suffering.; They lived in an abyss of misery.

他们生活在水深火热之中。

《新英汉大辞典》

The absence and distortion of love is one of the destructive forces that have caused the abyss of misery for mankind.

爱的缺失与扭曲是导致人类痛苦深渊的一种毁灭性力量。

youdao

The imperialists sold, maltreated and caused the death of numerous Chinese laborers, plunging countless people in old China into an abyss of misery.

帝国主义者大肆贩卖和虐杀华工，使旧中国无数生灵惨遭涂炭。

youdao

"How do you make sure you are designing a system where you are going to constrain risk taking, you can prevent crises from spreading,and -- if a major institution managed itself to the edge of the abyss -- that we are able to put them out of their misery."

VOA: special.2010.04.16