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10 “My soul is weary of my life.
    I will give free course to my complaint.
    I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
I will tell God, ‘Do not condemn me.
    Show me why you contend with me.
Is it good to you that you should oppress,
    that you should despise the work of your hands,
    and smile on the counsel of the wicked?
Do you have eyes of flesh?
    Or do you see as man sees?
Are your days as the days of mortals,
    or your years as man’s years,
that you inquire after my iniquity,
    and search after my sin?
Although you know that I am not wicked,
    there is no one who can deliver out of your hand.

“‘Your hands have framed me and fashioned me altogether,
    yet you destroy me.
Remember, I beg you, that you have fashioned me as clay.
    Will you bring me into dust again?
10 Haven’t you poured me out like milk,
    and curdled me like cheese?
11 You have clothed me with skin and flesh,
    and knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 You have granted me life and loving kindness.
    Your visitation has preserved my spirit.
13 Yet you hid these things in your heart.
    I know that this is with you:
14 if I sin, then you mark me.
    You will not acquit me from my iniquity.
15 If I am wicked, woe to me.
    If I am righteous, I still will not lift up my head,
    being filled with disgrace,
    and conscious of my affliction.
16 If my head is held high, you hunt me like a lion.
    Again you show yourself powerful to me.
17 You renew your witnesses against me,
    and increase your indignation on me.
    Changes and warfare are with me.

18 “‘Why, then, have you brought me out of the womb?
    I wish I had given up the spirit, and no eye had seen me.
19 I should have been as though I had not been.
    I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.
20 Aren’t my days few?
    Stop!
Leave me alone, that I may find a little comfort,
21     before I go where I will not return from,
    to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death;
22 the land dark as midnight,
    of the shadow of death,
    without any order,
    where the light is as midnight.’”

10 “I loathe my very life;(A)
    therefore I will give free rein to my complaint
    and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.(B)
I say to God:(C) Do not declare me guilty,
    but tell me what charges(D) you have against me.(E)
Does it please you to oppress me,(F)
    to spurn the work of your hands,(G)
    while you smile on the plans of the wicked?(H)
Do you have eyes of flesh?
    Do you see as a mortal sees?(I)
Are your days like those of a mortal
    or your years like those of a strong man,(J)
that you must search out my faults
    and probe after my sin(K)
though you know that I am not guilty(L)
    and that no one can rescue me from your hand?(M)

“Your hands shaped(N) me and made me.
    Will you now turn and destroy me?(O)
Remember that you molded me like clay.(P)
    Will you now turn me to dust again?(Q)
10 Did you not pour me out like milk
    and curdle me like cheese,
11 clothe me with skin and flesh
    and knit me together(R) with bones and sinews?
12 You gave me life(S) and showed me kindness,(T)
    and in your providence(U) watched over(V) my spirit.

13 “But this is what you concealed in your heart,
    and I know that this was in your mind:(W)
14 If I sinned, you would be watching me(X)
    and would not let my offense go unpunished.(Y)
15 If I am guilty(Z)—woe to me!(AA)
    Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head,(AB)
for I am full of shame
    and drowned in[a] my affliction.(AC)
16 If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion(AD)
    and again display your awesome power against me.(AE)
17 You bring new witnesses against me(AF)
    and increase your anger toward me;(AG)
    your forces come against me wave upon wave.(AH)

18 “Why then did you bring me out of the womb?(AI)
    I wish I had died before any eye saw me.(AJ)
19 If only I had never come into being,
    or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!(AK)
20 Are not my few days(AL) almost over?(AM)
    Turn away from me(AN) so I can have a moment’s joy(AO)
21 before I go to the place of no return,(AP)
    to the land of gloom and utter darkness,(AQ)
22 to the land of deepest night,
    of utter darkness(AR) and disorder,
    where even the light is like darkness.”(AS)

Footnotes

  1. Job 10:15 Or and aware of