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Complaint to God

10 I loathe my life; I will let loose my complaint;
    I will speak out of my own bitterness.
I will say to God, Don’t declare me guilty;
    tell me what you are accusing me of doing.
Does it seem good to you that you oppress me,
    that you reject the work of your hands
    and cause the purpose of sinners to shine?
Do you have physical eyes;
    do you see like a human?
Are your days like those of a human,
    your years like years of a human,
        that you search for my wrongdoing
        and seek my sin?
You know that I’m not guilty,
    yet no one delivers me from your power.

Creator

Your hands fashioned and made me;
    yet you want to destroy me utterly.
Remember that you made me from[a] clay,
    and you will return me to dust.
10 Didn’t you pour me out like milk,
    curdle me like cheese?
11 You clothed me with skin and flesh,
    wove me from bones and sinews.
12 Life and kindness you gave me,
    and you oversaw and preserved my breath.

No hiding place

13 These things you hid in your heart;
    I know this is the case with you.
14 If I sin and you observe me,
    you won’t consider me innocent of wrongdoing.
15 If I were guilty, doom to me;
    I’m innocent, but can’t lift my head,
    full of shame and facing my misery.
16 I could boast like a lion, and you would hunt me;
    you would do awesome things to me again.
17 You continue to send your witnesses against me
    and increase your anger toward me,
        a swift army against me.[b]

Death wish

18 Why did you let me emerge from the womb?
    I wish I had died without any eye seeing me.
19 Then I would be just as if I hadn’t existed,
    taken from the belly to the grave.
20 Aren’t my few days coming to an end?
Look away from me so I can brighten up a little
21     before I go and don’t return
    to a land of deepest darkness,
22     a land whose light is like gloom,
        utter darkness and confusion,
        such that light shines like gloom.

Footnotes

  1. Job 10:9 Or like
  2. Job 10:17 Heb uncertain

10 “I loathe my very life;(A)
    therefore I will give free rein to my complaint
    and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.(B)
I say to God:(C) Do not declare me guilty,
    but tell me what charges(D) you have against me.(E)
Does it please you to oppress me,(F)
    to spurn the work of your hands,(G)
    while you smile on the plans of the wicked?(H)
Do you have eyes of flesh?
    Do you see as a mortal sees?(I)
Are your days like those of a mortal
    or your years like those of a strong man,(J)
that you must search out my faults
    and probe after my sin(K)
though you know that I am not guilty(L)
    and that no one can rescue me from your hand?(M)

“Your hands shaped(N) me and made me.
    Will you now turn and destroy me?(O)
Remember that you molded me like clay.(P)
    Will you now turn me to dust again?(Q)
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(R) with bones and sinews?
12 You gave me life(S) and showed me kindness,(T)
    and in your providence(U) watched over(V) my spirit.

13 “But this is what you concealed in your heart,
    and I know that this was in your mind:(W)
14 If I sinned, you would be watching me(X)
    and would not let my offense go unpunished.(Y)
15 If I am guilty(Z)—woe to me!(AA)
    Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head,(AB)
for I am full of shame
    and drowned in[a] my affliction.(AC)
16 If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion(AD)
    and again display your awesome power against me.(AE)
17 You bring new witnesses against me(AF)
    and increase your anger toward me;(AG)
    your forces come against me wave upon wave.(AH)

18 “Why then did you bring me out of the womb?(AI)
    I wish I had died before any eye saw me.(AJ)
19 If only I had never come into being,
    or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!(AK)
20 Are not my few days(AL) almost over?(AM)
    Turn away from me(AN) so I can have a moment’s joy(AO)
21 before I go to the place of no return,(AP)
    to the land of gloom and utter darkness,(AQ)
22 to the land of deepest night,
    of utter darkness(AR) and disorder,
    where even the light is like darkness.”(AS)

Footnotes

  1. Job 10:15 Or and aware of