1My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. {weary...: or, cut off while I live}
2I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.
3{Is it} good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked? {work: Heb. labour}
4Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?
5{Are} thy days as the days of man? {are} thy years as man's days,
6That thou enquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin?
7Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and {there is} none that can deliver out of thine hand. {Thou...: Heb. It is upon thy knowledge}
8Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me. {have...: Heb. took pains about me}
9Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?
10Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?
11Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews. {fenced: Heb. hedged}
12Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.
13And these {things} hast thou hid in thine heart: I know that this {is} with thee.
14If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.
15If I be wicked, woe unto me; and {if} I be righteous, {yet} will I not lift up my head. {I am} full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;
16For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me.
17Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thine indignation upon me; changes and war {are} against me. {witnesses: that is, plagues}
18Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!
19I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.
20{Are} not my days few? cease {then, and} let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,
21Before I go {whence} I shall not return, {even} to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;
22A land of darkness, as darkness {itself; and} of the shadow of death, without any order, and {where} the light {is} as darkness.