Job 10

Job Continues His Response to Bildad

10“My inner self^a loathes my life;

I want to give vent to my complaint;^b

I want to speak out of the bitterness of my inner self.^c

²I will say to God, ‘You should not condemn me;

let me know why you contend against me.

³Is it good for you that you oppress,

that you despise the labor of your hands,

and you smile over the schemes of the wicked?

⁴Do you have eyes of flesh?^d

Or do you see as human beings see?^e

⁵Are your days as the days of human beings,

or your years as the days of man,

⁶that you seek out my iniquity,

and you search for my sin

⁷because of your knowledge that I am not guilty,

and there is no escaping from your hand?

⁸Your hands fashioned me and made me^f altogether,^g

then^h you destroyed me.

⁹Pleaseⁱ remember that you made me like clay,

but^j you turn me into dust again?

¹⁰Did you not pour me out like milk

and curdle me^k like cheese?

¹¹You clothed me with skin and flesh,

and you knit me together with bones and sinews.

¹²You have granted me life and loyal love,

and your care has preserved my spirit.

¹³“ ‘Yet^l you hid these things in your heart;

I know that this was your purpose.^m

¹⁴If I had sinned, thenⁿ you would be watching me,

and you would not acquit me of my guilt.

¹⁵If I am guilty, woe to me!

But^o if I am righteous, I dare not lift my head;

I am filled with shame, and just look at my misery!

¹⁶And if my head grows bold, you would hunt me as the lion in its prime;

and you repeat your exploits against me.^p

¹⁷You renew your witnesses against me,

and you increase your vexation against me;

relief forces^q are against me.

¹⁸So^r why did you bring me forth from the womb?

I should have passed away, and no eye should have seen me.^s

¹⁹I should have been as though I had not been;

I should have been brought from the womb to the grave.

²⁰Are not my days few? Let him leave me alone;

let him turn from me, and let me rejoice a little.

²¹Before I go—and I will not return—

to the land of darkness and deep shadow,

²²to the land of darkness,

like the darkness of a deep shadow and chaos,^t

so that^u it shines forth like darkness.’ ”