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Job Complains to God

I Am Sick of Life!

10 I am sick of life!
And from my deep despair,
    I complain to you, my God.
Don't just condemn me!
    Point out my sin.
Why do you take such delight
in destroying those you created
    and in smiling on sinners?
Do you look at things
    the way we humans do?
Is your life as short as ours?
Is that why you are so quick
    to find fault with me?
(A) You know I am innocent,
but who can defend me
    against you?
Will you now destroy
    someone you created?
Remember that you molded me
    like a piece of clay.
So don't turn me back
    into dust once again.
10 (B) As cheese is made from milk,
you created my body
    from a tiny drop.
11 Then you tied my bones together
with muscles and covered them
    with flesh and skin.
12 You, the source of my life,
showered me with kindness
    and watched over me.

You Have Not Explained

13 You have not explained
    all of your mysteries,
14 but you catch and punish me
    each time I sin.
15 Guilty or innocent,
I am condemned and ashamed
    because of my troubles.
16 No matter how hard I try,
you keep hunting me down
    like a powerful lion.[a]
17 You never stop accusing me;
you become furious and attack
    over and over again.

18 Why did you let me be born?
I would rather have died
    before birth
19 and been carried to the grave
    without ever breathing.
20 I have only a few days left.
Why don't you leave me alone?[b]
    Let me find some relief,
* 21 before I travel to the land
22 of darkness and despair,
    the place of no return.

Footnotes

  1. 10.16 lion: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 16.
  2. 10.20 I have only … alone: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

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