[1] “My soul is loathed by my life; I will abandon all restraint in myself to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. [2] “I will say to God, ‘Do not account me as wicked; Let me know why You contend with me. [3] ‘Is it good to You that You oppress, That You reject the labor of Your hands, And cause the counsel of the wicked to shine forth? [4] ‘Have You eyes of flesh? Or do You see as a mortal man sees? [5] ‘Are Your days as the days of a mortal man, Or Your years as man’s years, [6] That You should seek for my guilt And search after my sin? [7] ‘According to Your knowledge I am indeed not wicked, Yet there is no deliverer from Your hand. [8] ‘Your hands fashioned and made me altogether, And would You swallow me up? [9] ‘Remember now, that You have made me as clay; And would You turn me into dust again? [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 with bones and sinews? [12] ‘You have made alongside me life and lovingkindness; And Your care has kept my spirit. [13] ‘Yet these things You have concealed in Your heart; I know that this is within You: [14] If I sin, then You would take note of me And would not acquit me of my guilt. [15] ‘If I am wicked, woe to me! And if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head. I am sated with disgrace—so see my misery! [16] ‘Should my head be set on high, You would hunt me like a lion; And again You would show Your wonders against me. [17] ‘You renew Your witnesses against me And increase Your vexation toward me; Hardship after hardship is with me. [18] ‘Why then have You brought me out of the womb? Would that I had breathed my last and no eye had seen me! [19] ‘I should have been as though I had not been, Carried from womb to tomb.’ [20] “Would He not cease for a few of my days? Withdraw from me that I may have a little cheer [21] Before I go—and I shall not return—To the land of darkness and shadow of death, [22] The land of utter gloom as the thick darkness itself, Of the shadow of death, without order, And which shines as the thick darkness.”
