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10 With all my heart I am weary of my life,
so I will express my complaint freely.
I will speak from the bitterness of my heart.
I will say this to God: Do not condemn me.
Tell me why you are pressing charges against me.
Is it good that you are oppressing me,
that you are rejecting what your hands have made,
at the same time that you favor the plans of the wicked?
Do you have eyes made of flesh?
Do you see things the way a man does?
Are your days like a man’s days?
Are your years like the life span of a human?

You do, in fact, investigate guilt,
and you do search carefully for sin.
Although you know that I am not guilty,
there is no one who can rescue me from your hand.

Your hands shaped me and made me,
but now you swallow me up completely.
Please remember that it was you who shaped me like a clay pot.
Will you now return me to the dust?
10 Aren’t you the one who poured me out like milk,
who thickened me like a curd of cheese?
11 You clothed me with skin and flesh.
You wove me together with bones and tendons.
12 You provided me with life and mercy,
and your watchful care has guarded my spirit.

13 You hid these things in your heart,
but I know that this is what you had in mind:
14 If I sinned and you were watching me,
you would not acquit me of my guilt.
15 If I was wicked, I would be cursed!
But even if I was righteous, I could not lift up my head,
because I am filled with shame and aware of[a] my misery.
16 If I lift myself up,[b] you hunt me down like a lion.
You turn and display amazing power against me.
17 You produce new witnesses to oppose me,
and you become more irritated with me.
You attack me with reinforcements.
18 Why, then, did you bring me out from the womb?
I wish I had died. Then no eye would have seen me.
19 I wish I had been like someone who never lived.
Then I would have been carried from the womb to the tomb.
20 Don’t I have only a few days?
Stop! Leave me alone, so that I can be happy for a short time,
21 before I walk into the land of darkness
and into the shadow of death, never to return,
22 into the land of gloom, as dark as the shadow of death,
into the land of chaos, where even light is darkness.

Footnotes

  1. Job 10:15 Or drenched with
  2. Job 10:16 The translation follows the Targum and Greek text in reading a first person verb. The Hebrew has a third person verb.

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