Job Despairs of God’s Dealings
1“[a]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 [b]right for You indeed to oppress,
To reject the labor of Your hands,
And [c]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,
6That 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 [d]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;
11Clothe 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:
14If 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 [e]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;
[f]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?
[g]Withdraw from me that I may have a little cheer
21Before I go—and I shall not return—
To the land of darkness and deep shadow,
22The land of utter gloom as darkness itself,
Of deep shadow without order,
And which shines as the darkness.”