Job 10
1 Yt anoieth my soule of my lijf; Y schal lete my speche ayens me, Y schal speke in the bitternesse of my soule.
“I loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 Y schal seie to God, Nyle thou condempne me; schewe thou to me, whi thou demest me so.
I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me.
3 Whether it semeth good to thee, if thou `falsli chalengist and oppressist me, the werk of thin hondis; and if thou helpist the counsel of wickid men?
Does it please You to oppress me, to reject the work of Your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked?
4 Whethir fleischli iyen ben to thee, ethir, as a man seeth, also thou schalt se?
Do You have eyes of flesh? Do You see as man sees?
5 Whether thi daies ben as the daies of man, and `thi yeeris ben as mannus tymes;
Are Your days like those of a mortal, or Your years like those of a man,
6 that thou enquere my wickidnesse, and enserche my synne?
that You should seek my iniquity and search out my sin—
7 And wite, that Y haue do no `wickid thing; sithen no man is, that may delyuere fro thin hond?
though You know that I am not guilty, and there is no deliverance from Your hand?
8 Thin hondis han maad me, and han formed me al in cumpas; and thou castist me doun so sodeynli.
Your hands shaped me and altogether formed me. Would You now turn and destroy me?
9 Y preye, haue thou mynde, that thou madist me as cley, and schalt brynge me ayen in to dust.
Please remember that You molded me like clay. Would You now return me to dust?
10 Whether thou hast not mylkid me as mylk, and hast cruddid me togidere as cheese?
Did You not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese?
11 Thou clothidist me with skyn and fleisch; thou hast ioyned me togidere with boonys and senewis.
You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 Thou hast youe lijf and mercy to me, and thi visiting hath kept my spirit.
You have granted me life and loving devotion, and Your care has preserved my spirit.
13 Thouy thou helist these thingis in thin herte, netheles Y woot, that thou hast mynde of alle thingis.
Yet You concealed these things in Your heart, and I know that this was in Your mind:
14 If Y dide synne, and thou sparidist me at an our; whi suffrist thou not me to be cleene of my wickidnesse?
If I sinned, You would take note, and would not acquit me of my iniquity.
15 And if Y was wickid, wo is to me; and if Y was iust, Y fillid with turment and wretchidnesse `schal not reise the heed.
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 if Y reise `the heed for pride, thou schalt take me as a lionesse; and thou turnest ayen, and turmentist me wondirli.
Should I hold my head high, You would hunt me like a lion, and again display Your power against me.
17 Thou gaderist in store thi witnessis ayens me, and thou multipliest thin yre, `that is, veniaunce, ayens me; and peynes holden knyythod in me.
You produce new witnesses against me and multiply Your anger toward me. Hardships assault me in wave after wave.
18 Whi hast thou led me out of the wombe? `And Y wolde, that Y were wastid, lest an iye `schulde se me.
Why then did You bring me from the womb? Oh, that I had died, and no eye had seen me!
19 That Y hadde be, as if Y were not, and `were translatid, ethir borun ouer, fro the wombe to the sepulcre.
If only I had never come to be, but had been carried from the womb to the grave.
20 Whether the fewnesse of my daies schal not be endid in schort? Therfor suffre thou me, that Y biweile `a litil my sorewe,
Are my days not few? Withdraw from me, that I may have a little comfort,
21 bifor that Y go, and turne not ayen, to the derk lond, and hilid with the derknesse of deth, to the lond of wrecchidnesse and of derknessis;
before I go—never to return— to a land of darkness and gloom,
22 where is schadewe of deeth, and noon ordre, but euerlastynge hidousnesse dwellith.
to a land of utter darkness, of deep shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.”
