Job, chapter 10

I Am Sick of Life!

I am sick of life! And from my deep despair,

I complainI to you, my God.

²Don't just condemn me! Point out my sin.

³Why do you take such delight

in destroying those you created

and in smiling on sinners?

⁴Do you look at things the way we humans do?

⁵Is your life as short as ours?

⁶Is that why you are so quick to find fault with me?

⁷ C You know I am innocent,

but who can defend me against you?

⁸Will you now destroy someone you created?

⁹ CRemember that you molded me like a piece of clay.

So don't turn me back into dust once again.

¹⁰As cheese is made from milk,

you created my body from a tiny drop.

¹¹Then you tied my bones together with muscles

and covered them with flesh and skin.

¹²You, the source of my life, showered me with kindness

and watched over me.

You Have Not Explained

¹³You have not explained all of your mysteries,

¹⁴but you catch and punish me each time I sin.

¹⁵Guilty or innocent, I am condemned and ashamed

because of my troubles.

¹⁶No matter how hard I try, you keep hunting me downI

like a powerful lion.*

¹⁷You never stop accusing me; you become furious and attack

over and over again.

¹⁸ CWhy did you let me be born?

I would rather have died before birth

¹⁹and been carried to the grave without ever breathing.

²⁰I have only a few days left.

Why don't you leave me alone?*

Let me find some relief,

* ²¹before I travel to the land ²²of darkness and despairI,

the place of no return.