Job 10

10“I loathe my very life;ⁿ

therefore I will give free rein to my complaint

and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.^o

²I say to God:^p Do not declare me guilty,

but tell me what charges^q you have against me.^r

³Does it please you to oppress me,^s

to spurn the work of your hands,^t

while you smile on the plans of the wicked?^u

⁴Do you have eyes of flesh?

Do you see as a mortal sees?^v

⁵Are your days like those of a mortal

or your years like those of a strong man,^w

⁶that you must search out my faults

and probe after my sin^x—

⁷though you know that I am not guilty^y

and that no one can rescue me from your hand?^z

⁸“Your hands shaped^a me and made me.

Will you now turn and destroy me?^b

⁹Remember that you molded me like clay.^c

Will you now turn me to dust again?^d

¹⁰Did you not pour me out like milk

and curdle me like cheese,

¹¹clothe me with skin and flesh

and knit me together^e with bones and sinews?

¹²You gave me life^f and showed me kindness,^g

and in your providence^h watched overⁱ my spirit.

¹³“But this is what you concealed in your heart,

and I know that this was in your mind:^j

¹⁴If I sinned, you would be watching me^k

and would not let my offense go unpunished.^l

¹⁵If I am guilty^m—woe to me!ⁿ

Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head,^o

for I am full of shame

and drowned in^a my affliction.^p

¹⁶If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion^q

and again display your awesome power against me.^r

¹⁷You bring new witnesses against me^s

and increase your anger toward me;^t

your forces come against me wave upon wave.^u

¹⁸“Why then did you bring me out of the womb?^v

I wish I had died before any eye saw me.^w

¹⁹If only I had never come into being,

or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!^x

²⁰Are not my few days^y almost over?^z

Turn away from me^a so I can have a moment’s joy^b

²¹before I go to the place of no return,^c

to the land of gloom and utter darkness,^d

²²to the land of deepest night,

of utter darkness^e and disorder,

where even the light is like darkness.”^f