Job 10

Chapter 10

Job Despairs of God’s Dealings

¹“^1aI loathe my own life;

I will give full vent to ^bmy complaint;

I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

²“I will say to God, ‘^aDo not condemn me;

Let me know why You contend with me.

³‘Is it ¹right for You indeed to ^aoppress,

To reject ^bthe labor of Your hands,

And ²to look favorably on ^cthe schemes of the wicked?

⁴‘Have You eyes of flesh?

Or do You ^asee as a man sees?

⁵‘Are Your days as the days of a mortal,

Or ^aYour years as man’s years,

⁶That ^aYou should seek for my guilt

And search after my sin?

⁷‘According to Your knowledge ^aI am indeed not guilty,

Yet there is ^bno deliverance from Your hand.

⁸‘^aYour hands fashioned and made me ¹altogether,

^bAnd would You destroy me?

⁹‘Remember now, that You have made me as ^aclay;

And would You ^bturn me into dust again?

¹⁰‘Did You not pour me out like milk

And curdle me like cheese;

¹¹Clothe me with skin and flesh,

And knit me together with bones and sinews?

¹²‘You have ^agranted me life and lovingkindness;

And Your care has preserved my spirit.

¹³‘Yet ^athese things You have concealed in Your heart;

I know that this is within You:

¹⁴If I sin, then You would ^atake note of me,

And ^bwould not acquit me of my guilt.

¹⁵‘If ^aI am wicked, woe to me!

And ^bif I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head.

I am sated with disgrace and ¹conscious of my misery.

¹⁶‘Should my head be lifted up, ^aYou would hunt me like a lion;

And again You would show Your ^bpower against me.

¹⁷‘You renew ^aYour witnesses against me

And increase Your anger toward me;

^1bHardship after hardship is with me.

¹⁸‘^aWhy then have You brought me out of the womb?

Would that I had died 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 let ^amy few days alone?

^1bWithdraw from me that I may have a little cheer

²¹Before I go—^aand I shall not return—

^bTo the land of darkness and ^cdeep shadow,

²²The land of utter gloom as darkness itself,

Of deep shadow without order,

And which shines as the darkness.”