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10 My soul is weary of my life, I will let go my speech against myself, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

I will say to God: Do not condemn me: tell me why thou judgest me so.

Doth it seem good to thee that thou shouldst calumniate me, and oppress me, the work of thy own hands, and help the counsel of the wicked?

Hast thou eyes of flesh: or, shalt thou see as man seeth?

Are thy days as the days of man, and are thy years as the times of men:

That thou shouldst inquire after my iniquity, and search after my sin?

And shouldst know that I have done no wicked thing, whereas there is no man that can deliver out of thy hand.

Thy hands have made me, and fashioned me wholly round about, and dost thou thus cast me down headlong on a sudden?

Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay, and thou wilt bring me into dust again.

10 Hast thou not milked me as milk, and curdled me like cheese?

11 Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh: thou hast put me together with bones and sinews:

12 Thou hast granted me life and mercy, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.

13 Although thou conceal these things in thy heart, yet I know that thou rememberest all things.

14 If I have sinned and thou hast spared me for an hour: why dost thou not suffer me to be clean from my iniquity?

15 And if I be wicked, woe unto me: and if just, I shall not lift up my head, being filled with affliction and misery.

16 And for pride thou wilt take me as a lioness, and returning thou tormentest me wonderfully.

17 Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and multipliest thy wrath upon me, and pains war against me.

18 Why didst thou bring me forth out of the womb: O that I had been consumed that eye might not see me!

19 I should have been as if I had not been, carried from the womb to the grave.

20 Shall not the fewness of my days be ended shortly? suffer me, therefore, that I may lament my sorrow a little:

21 Before I go, and return no more, to a land that is dark and covered with the mist of death:

22 A land of misery and darkness, where the shadow of death, and no order, but everlasting horror dwelleth.

10 “I loathe my very life;(A)
    therefore I will give free rein to my complaint
    and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.(B)
I say to God:(C) Do not declare me guilty,
    but tell me what charges(D) you have against me.(E)
Does it please you to oppress me,(F)
    to spurn the work of your hands,(G)
    while you smile on the plans of the wicked?(H)
Do you have eyes of flesh?
    Do you see as a mortal sees?(I)
Are your days like those of a mortal
    or your years like those of a strong man,(J)
that you must search out my faults
    and probe after my sin(K)
though you know that I am not guilty(L)
    and that no one can rescue me from your hand?(M)

“Your hands shaped(N) me and made me.
    Will you now turn and destroy me?(O)
Remember that you molded me like clay.(P)
    Will you now turn me to dust again?(Q)
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(R) with bones and sinews?
12 You gave me life(S) and showed me kindness,(T)
    and in your providence(U) watched over(V) my spirit.

13 “But this is what you concealed in your heart,
    and I know that this was in your mind:(W)
14 If I sinned, you would be watching me(X)
    and would not let my offense go unpunished.(Y)
15 If I am guilty(Z)—woe to me!(AA)
    Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head,(AB)
for I am full of shame
    and drowned in[a] my affliction.(AC)
16 If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion(AD)
    and again display your awesome power against me.(AE)
17 You bring new witnesses against me(AF)
    and increase your anger toward me;(AG)
    your forces come against me wave upon wave.(AH)

18 “Why then did you bring me out of the womb?(AI)
    I wish I had died before any eye saw me.(AJ)
19 If only I had never come into being,
    or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!(AK)
20 Are not my few days(AL) almost over?(AM)
    Turn away from me(AN) so I can have a moment’s joy(AO)
21 before I go to the place of no return,(AP)
    to the land of gloom and utter darkness,(AQ)
22 to the land of deepest night,
    of utter darkness(AR) and disorder,
    where even the light is like darkness.”(AS)

Footnotes

  1. Job 10:15 Or and aware of