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"My a soul loathes my life;
I will 1 give free course to my complaint,
b I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
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I will say to God, 'Do not condemn me;
Show me why You contend with me.
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Does it seem good to You that You should oppress,
That You should despise the work of Your hands,
And smile on the counsel of the wicked?
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Do You have eyes of flesh?
Or c do You see as man sees?
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Are Your days like the days of a mortal man?
Are Your years like the days of a mighty man,
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That You should seek for my iniquity
And search out my sin,
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Although You know that I am not wicked,
And there is no one who can deliver from Your hand?
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'Your d hands have made me and fashioned me,
An intricate unity;
Yet You would e destroy me.
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Remember, I pray, f that You have made me like clay.
And will You turn me into dust again?
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g Did You not pour me out like milk,
And curdle me like cheese,
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Clothe me with skin and flesh,
And knit me together with bones and sinews?
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You have granted me life and favor,
And Your care has preserved my spirit.
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'And these things You have hidden in Your heart;
I know that this was with You:
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If I sin, then h You mark me,
And will not acquit me of my iniquity.
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If I am wicked, i woe to me;
j Even if I am righteous, I 2 cannot lift up my head.
I am full of disgrace;
k See my misery!
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If my head is exalted,
l You hunt me like a fierce lion,
And again You show Yourself awesome against me.
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You renew Your witnesses against me,
And increase Your indignation toward me;
Changes and war are ever with me.
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'Why m then have You brought me out of the womb?
Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me!
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I would have been as though I had not been.
I would have been carried from the womb to the grave.
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n Are not my days few?
Cease! o Leave me alone, that I may take a little comfort,
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Before I go to the place from which I shall not return,
p To the land of darkness q and the shadow of death,
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A land as dark as darkness itself,
As the shadow of death, without any order,
Where even the light is like darkness.' "