< 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 leave my complaint upon myself; 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; show me wherefore you contend 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?
Is it good unto you that you should oppress, that you should despise the work of your hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?
4 Do you understand things the way that we humans do?
Have you eyes of flesh? or see you as man sees?
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 your days as the days of man? are your years as man's days,
6 So, why do you [RHQ] continue to search for my faults? Why do you hunt for my sins?
That you enquire after mine iniquity, and search after my sin?
7 You know that I am not guilty, and that no one can rescue me from your power [MTY].
You know that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of your 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.
your hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet you do destroy me.
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 plead to you, that you have made me as the clay; and will you 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].
Have you 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.
You have clothed me with skin and flesh, and have fenced me 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).
You have granted me life and favour, and your visitation has 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 have you hid in your heart: I know that this is with you.
14 You were watching to see if I would sin, in order that [if I sinned, ] you would refuse to forgive me.
If I sin, then you mark me, and you will not acquit me from 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 be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see you 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.
For it increases. You hunt me as a fierce lion: and again you show yourself marvellous 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.
You renew your witnesses against me, and increase your indignation upon me; changes and war are against me.
18 “'God, why did you allow me to be born? I wish/desire that I had died before anyone [SYN] saw me.
Wherefore then have you brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the spirit, 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 have been 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 take comfort 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 whence I shall not return, even 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 darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.