Job 10
1 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 loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou strivest with me.
I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me.
3 Doth it please thee to oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thy hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?
Does it please You to oppress me, to reject the work of Your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked?
4 Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?
Do You have eyes of flesh? Do You see as man sees?
5 Are thy days as the days of a mortal? are thy years as a man's days,
Are Your days like those of a mortal, or Your years like those of a man,
6 That thou searchest after mine iniquity, and inquirest into my sin;
that You should seek my iniquity and search out my sin—
7 Since thou knowest that I am not wicked, and that there is none that delivereth out of thy hand?
though You know that I am not guilty, and there is no deliverance from Your hand?
8 Thy hands have bound me together and made me as one, round about; yet dost thou swallow me up!
Your hands shaped me and altogether formed me. Would You now turn and destroy me?
9 Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as clay, and wilt bring me into dust again.
Please remember that You molded me like clay. Would You now return me to dust?
10 Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?
Did You not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese?
11 Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews;
You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy care hath preserved my spirit;
You have granted me life and loving devotion, and Your care has preserved my spirit.
13 And these things didst thou hide in thy heart; I know that this was with thee.
Yet You concealed these things in Your heart, and I know that this was in Your mind:
14 If I sinned, thou wouldest mark me, and thou wouldest not acquit me of mine iniquity.
If I sinned, You would take note, and would not acquit me of my iniquity.
15 If I were wicked, woe unto me! and righteous, I will not lift up my head, being [so] full of shame, and beholding mine affliction; —
If I am guilty, woe to me! And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift my head. I am full of shame and aware of my affliction.
16 And it increaseth: thou huntest me as a fierce lion; and ever again thou shewest thy marvellous power upon me.
Should I hold my head high, You would hunt me like a lion, and again display Your power against me.
17 Thou renewest thy witnesses before me and increasest thy displeasure against me; successions [of evil] and a time of toil are with me.
You produce new witnesses against me and multiply Your anger toward me. Hardships assault me in wave after wave.
18 And wherefore didst thou bring me forth out of the womb? I had expired, and no eye had seen me.
Why then did You bring me from the womb? Oh, that I had died, and no eye had seen me!
19 I should be as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.
If only I had never come to be, but had been carried from the womb to the grave.
20 Are not my days few? cease then and let me alone, that I may revive a little,
Are my days not few? Withdraw from me, that I may have a little comfort,
21 Before I go, and never to return, — to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;
before I go—never to return— to a land of darkness and gloom,
22 A land of gloom, as darkness itself; of the shadow of death, without any order, where the light is as thick darkness.
to a land of utter darkness, of deep shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.”
