| New King James Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1“My soul loathes my life; I will give free course to my complaint, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. | 1I am disgusted with my life. I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul. |
| 2I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me; Show me why You contend with me. | 2I will say to God: "Do not declare me guilty! Let me know why You prosecute me. |
| 3Does it seem good to You that You should oppress, That You should despise the work of Your hands, And smile on the counsel of the wicked? | 3Is it good for You to oppress, to reject the work of Your hands, and favor the plans of the wicked? |
| 4Do You have eyes of flesh? Or do You see as man sees? | 4Do You have eyes of flesh, or do You see as a human sees? |
| 5Are Your days like the days of a mortal man? Are Your years like the days of a mighty man, | 5Are Your days like those of a human, or Your years like those of a man, |
| 6That You should seek for my iniquity And search out my sin, | 6that You look for my wrongdoing and search for my sin, |
| 7Although You know that I am not wicked, And there is no one who can deliver from Your hand? | 7even though You know that I am not wicked and that there is no one who can deliver from Your hand? |
| 8‘Your hands have made me and fashioned me, An intricate unity; Yet You would destroy me. | 8"Your hands shaped me and formed me. Will You now turn and destroy me? |
| 9Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay. And will You turn me into dust again? | 9Please remember that You formed me like clay. Will You now return me to dust? |
| 10Did You not pour me out like milk, And curdle me like cheese, | 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? | 11You clothed me with skin and flesh, and wove me together with bones and tendons. |
| 12You have granted me life and favor, And Your care has preserved my spirit. | 12You gave me life and faithful love, and Your care has guarded my life. |
| 13‘And these things You have hidden in Your heart; I know that this was with You: | 13"Yet You concealed these thoughts in Your heart; I know that this was Your hidden plan: |
| 14If I sin, then You mark me, And will not acquit me of my iniquity. | 14if I sin, You would notice, and would not acquit me of my wrongdoing. |
| 15If I am wicked, woe to me; Even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head. I am full of disgrace; See my misery! | 15If I am wicked, woe to me! And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head. I am filled with shame and aware of my affliction. |
| 16If my head is exalted, You hunt me like a fierce lion, And again You show Yourself awesome against me. | 16If I am proud, You hunt me like a lion and again display Your miraculous power against me. |
| 17You renew Your witnesses against me, And increase Your indignation toward me; Changes and war are ever with me. | 17You produce new witnesses against me and multiply Your anger toward me. Hardships assault me, wave after wave. |
| 18‘Why then have You brought me out of the womb? Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me! | 18"Why did You bring me out of the womb? I should have died and never been seen. |
| 19I would have been as though I had not been. I would have been carried from the womb to the grave. | 19I wish I had never existed but had been carried from the womb to the grave. |
| 20Are not my days few? Cease! Leave me alone, that I may take a little comfort, | 20Are my days not few? Stop it! Leave me alone, so that I can smile a little |
| 21Before I go to the place from which I shall not return, To the land of darkness and the shadow of death, | 21before I go to a land of darkness and gloom, never to return. |
| 22A land as dark as darkness itself, As the shadow of death, without any order, Where even the light is like darkness.’ ” | 22It is a land of blackness like the deepest darkness, gloomy and chaotic, where even the light is like the darkness." |
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