< Job 10 >
1 “I am tired of living. And I will not be silent and stop saying what I am complaining about. Instead, being very unhappy, I will speak [IDM].
My soul is weary of my life: I will give free course to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God, ‘Do not say that I must be punished; instead, tell me what wrong you are saying that I have done.
I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou strivest with me.
3 Does it seem to be good for you to oppress me, to abandon me, whom you created, and instead, to help wicked people to do the things that they plan to do?
Doth it please thee to oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thy hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?
4 Do you understand things the way that we humans do?
Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?
5 (Do you live for only a few years, like we do?/You certainly do not live for only a few years, like we do.) [RHQ]
Are thy days as the days of a mortal? are thy years as a man's days,
6 So, why do you [RHQ] continue to search for my faults? Why do you hunt for my sins?
That thou searchest after mine iniquity, and inquirest into my sin;
7 You know that I am not guilty, and that no one can rescue me from your power [MTY].
Since thou knowest that I am not wicked, and that there is none that delivereth out of thy hand?
8 “'With your hands you created me and shaped/formed my body; but now you are [deciding that you should not have done that, and you are] destroying me.
Thy hands have bound me together and made me as one, round about; yet dost thou swallow me up!
9 Do not forget that you made me from [a piece of] clay; are you going to cause me to become dirt again [RHQ]?
Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as clay, and wilt bring me into dust again.
10 You certainly [RHQ] directed/controlled it when I was conceived, and you formed me inside my mother’s womb [MET].
Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?
11 You fastened my bones together with sinews, and [then] you covered them with flesh inside my skin.
Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews;
12 You have caused me to be alive, and you have faithfully loved me, and you have carefully (preserved me/kept me alive).
Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy care hath preserved my spirit;
13 “'But you (kept secret/did not reveal) what [you were planning to do to me]; I am certain that you were planning [to do] these [things to me].
And these things didst thou hide in thy heart; I know that this was with thee.
14 You were watching to see if I would sin, in order that [if I sinned, ] you would refuse to forgive me.
If I sinned, thou wouldest mark me, and thou wouldest not acquit me of mine iniquity.
15 If I am a wicked man, I hope/wish that terrible things will happen to me. But even if I am righteous, I still must bow my head [and feel ashamed], because I am very disgraced and feel miserable.
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; —
16 And if I am proud, you hunt me like [SIM] a lion hunts [for some animal to kill], and you act powerfully to injure me.
And it increaseth: thou huntest me as a fierce lion; and ever again thou shewest thy marvellous power upon me.
17 You constantly find more witnesses [to testify that I have done what is wrong], and you continually become more angry/perturbed with me. [It is as though] you are always bringing new troops to attack me.
Thou renewest thy witnesses before me and increasest thy displeasure against me; successions [of evil] and a time of toil are with me.
18 “'God, why did you allow me to be born? I wish/desire that I had died before anyone [SYN] saw me.
And wherefore didst thou bring me forth out of the womb? I had expired, and no eye had seen me.
19 [I consider that] it would have been better if I had been carried directly from my mother’s womb to the grave than for me to live.
I should be as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.
20 [I think that] [RHQ] there are only a few days for me to remain alive; so (allow me to be alone/stop attacking me), in order that I may be a little cheerful
Are not my days few? cease then and let me alone, that I may revive a little,
21 before I go to the place from which I will never return, where it is always gloomy and very dark [DOU],
Before I go, and never to return, — to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;
22 a place of darkness and dark shadows, where [everything] is confused/disordered, where [even a small amount of] light there is like darkness (OR, there is no light, only darkness).’”
A land of gloom, as darkness itself; of the shadow of death, without any order, where the light is as thick darkness.