1“[a]I am disgusted with my own life;

I will express my complaint freely;

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 work of Your hands,

And [c]to look favorably on the plan of the wicked?

4‘Do You have eyes of flesh?

Or do You see as mankind sees?

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

Or Your years like a man’s year,

6That You should search for my guilt

And carefully seek my sin?

7‘According to Your knowledge I am indeed not guilty,

Yet there is no one to save me from Your hand.

8‘Your hands fashioned and made me [d]altogether,

Yet would You destroy me?

9‘Remember that You have made me as clay;

Yet 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 intertwine me with bones and tendons?

12‘You have granted me life and [e]goodness;

And Your care has guarded my spirit.

13‘Yet You have concealed these things in Your heart;

I know that this is within You:

14If I have sinned, You will take note of me,

And will not acquit me of my guilt.

15‘If I am wicked, woe to me!

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

I am full of shame, and [f]conscious of my misery.

16‘And should my head be high, You would hunt me like a lion;

And You would show Your power against me again.

17‘You renew Your witnesses against me

And increase Your anger toward me;

[g]Hardship after hardship is with me.

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

If only I had died and no eye had seen me!

19‘I should have been as though I had not been,

Brought from womb to tomb.’

20“Would He not leave my few days alone?

[h]Withdraw from me so that I may have a little cheerfulness

21Before I go—and I shall not return—

To the land of darkness and deep shadow,

22The land of utter gloom like darkness itself,

Of deep shadow without order,

And it shines like darkness.”