1‘I loathe my very life; therefore I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.2I say to God: do not declare me guilty, but tell me what charges you have against me.3Does it please you to oppress me, to spurn the work of your hands, while you smile on the plans of the wicked?4Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see as a mortal sees?5Are your days like those of a mortal or your years like those of a strong man,6that you must search out my faults and probe after my sin –7though you know that I am not guilty and that no-one can rescue me from your hand?8‘Your hands shaped me and made me. Will you now turn and destroy me?9Remember that you moulded me like clay. Will you now turn me to dust again?10Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese,11clothe me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews?12You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit.13‘But this is what you concealed in your heart, and I know that this was in your mind:14if I sinned, you would be watching me and would not let my offence go unpunished.15If I am guilty – woe to me! Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head, for I am full of shame and drowned in[1] my affliction.16If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion and again display your awesome power against me.17You bring new witnesses against me and increase your anger towards me; your forces come against me wave upon wave.18‘Why then did you bring me out of the womb? I wish I had died before any eye saw me.19If only I had never come into being, or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!20Are not my few days almost over? Turn away from me so that I can have a moment’s joy21before I go to the place of no return, to the land of gloom and utter darkness,22to the land of deepest night, of utter darkness and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.’
Job 10
English Standard Version
Job Continues: A Plea to God
1“I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. (Nu 11:15; 1Ki 19:4; Job 7:11; Job 7:16; Job 9:21; Job 21:4; Job 23:2)2I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me. (Job 9:3; Job 9:29)3Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the designs of the wicked? (Job 9:24; Job 13:9; Job 14:15; Ps 89:38; Ps 138:8; Isa 64:8)4Have you eyes of flesh? Do you see as man sees? (1Sa 16:7; Joh 8:15)5Are your days as the days of man, or your years as a man’s years, (Job 36:26; Ps 77:10; Ps 90:4; 2Pe 3:8)6that you seek out my iniquity and search for my sin, (Job 14:16)7although you know that I am not guilty, and there is none to deliver out of your hand? (De 32:39; Job 2:3; Job 2:9; Isa 43:13)8Your hands fashioned and made me, and now you have destroyed me altogether. (Ps 119:73)9Remember that you have made me like clay; and will you return me to the dust? (Ge 2:7; Ge 3:19; Job 4:17; Job 34:15; Ps 146:4; Ec 12:7)10Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese?11You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews.12You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit.13Yet these things you hid in your heart; I know that this was your purpose. (Job 23:14; Job 27:11)14If I sin, you watch me and do not acquit me of my iniquity. (Job 9:28; Job 13:27; Job 33:11; Ps 130:3)15If I am guilty, woe to me! If I am in the right, I cannot lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace and look on my affliction. (Job 9:15; Ps 25:18; Isa 3:11)16And were my head lifted up,[1] you would hunt me like a lion and again work wonders against me. (Job 5:9; Job 28:8; Isa 38:13; Ho 5:14; Ho 13:7)17You renew your witnesses against me and increase your vexation toward me; you bring fresh troops against me. (Ru 1:21; Job 16:8; Job 19:12)18“Why did you bring me out from the womb? Would that I had died before any eye had seen me (Job 3:3; Job 3:11)19and were as though I had not been, carried from the womb to the grave. (Ob 1:16)20Are not my days few? Then cease, and leave me alone, that I may find a little cheer (Job 7:16; Job 9:27; Job 14:1; Ps 39:13)21before I go—and I shall not return— to the land of darkness and deep shadow, (2Sa 12:23; Job 3:5; Job 16:22; Job 30:26; Ps 88:12)22the land of gloom like thick darkness, like deep shadow without any order, where light is as thick darkness.”