1 "I loathe my own life; I will give full vent to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 2 "I will say to God, 'Do not condemn me; Let me know why You contend with me. 3 'Is it right for You indeed to oppress, To reject the labor of Your hands, And to look favorably on the schemes of the wicked? 4 'Have You eyes of flesh? Or do You see as a man sees? 5 'Are Your days as the days of a mortal, Or Your years as man's years, 6 That You should seek for my guilt And search after my sin? 7 'According to Your knowledge I am indeed not guilty, Yet there is no deliverance from Your hand. 8 'Your hands fashioned and made me altogether, And would You destroy me? 9 'Remember now, that You have made me as clay; And would You turn me into dust again? 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 with bones and sinews? 12 'You have granted me life and lovingkindness; And Your care has preserved my spirit. 13 'Yet these things You have concealed in Your heart; I know that this is within You: 14 If I sin, then You would take note of me, And would not acquit me of my guilt. 15 'If I am wicked, woe to me! And if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head. I am sated with disgrace and conscious of my misery. 16 'Should my head be lifted up, You would hunt me like a lion; And again You would show Your power against me. 17 'You renew Your witnesses against me And increase Your anger toward me; Hardship after hardship is with me.
18 'Why 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 my few days alone? Withdraw from me that I may have a little cheer 21 Before I go--and I shall not return-- To the land of darkness and deep shadow, 22 The land of utter gloom as darkness itself, Of deep shadow without order, And which shines as the darkness."