1 "I am disgusted with my life and loathe it!

I will give free expression to my complaint;

I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

2 "I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me [and declare me guilty]!

Show me why You contend and argue and struggle with me.

3 ‘Does it indeed seem right to You to oppress,

To despise and reject the work of Your hands,

And to look with favor on the schemes of the wicked?

4 ‘Do You have eyes of flesh?

Do You see as a man sees?

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

Are Your years as man’s years,

6 That You seek my guilt

And search for my sin?

7 ‘Although You know that I am not guilty or wicked,

Yet there is no one who can rescue me from Your hand.

8 ‘Your hands have formed and made me altogether.

Would You [turn around and] destroy me?

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

So will You turn me into dust again?

10 ‘Have You not poured me out like milk

And curdled me like cheese?

11 ‘[You have] clothed me with skin and flesh,

And knit me together with bones and sinews.

12 ‘You have granted me life and lovingkindness;

And Your providence (divine care, supervision) has preserved my spirit.

13 ‘Yet these [present evils] You have hidden in Your heart [since my creation]:

I know that this was within You [in Your purpose and thought].

14 ‘If I sin, then You would take note and observe me,

And You would not acquit me of my guilt.

15 ‘If I am wicked, woe to me [for judgment comes]!

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

For I am sated and filled with disgrace and the sight of my misery.

16 ‘Should I lift my head up, You would hunt me like a lion;

And again You would show Your marvelous power against me.

17 ‘You renew Your witnesses against me

And increase Your indignation and anger toward me;

Hardship after hardship is with me [attacking me time after time].

18 ‘Why then did You bring me out of the womb?

Would that I had perished and no eye had seen me!

19 ‘I should have been as though I had not existed;

[I should have been] carried from the womb to the grave.’

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 the deep shadow [of death],

22 The [sunless] land of utter gloom as darkness itself,

[The land] of the shadow of death, without order,

And [where] it shines as [thick] darkness."