1 “I loathe my own life; I will give full vent to my complaint; I will speak out of the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me; tell me why You contend with me.’
3 Is it good for You to oppress, to despise the work of Your hands, while You smile on the plans of the wicked?
4 Do You have eyes of flesh? Do You see as a human being sees?
5 Are Your days like those of a mortal, or Your years like those of a strong man,
6 that You should seek out my iniquity and search out my sin,
7 though You know that I am not guilty, yet there is no one to deliver from Your hand?
8 “Your hands molded and fashioned me, will You now destroy me completely?
9 Remember You fashioned me like clay; will You return me to dust?
10 Did You not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese,
11 clothe me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews?
12 You gave me life and steadfast love, and Your care has preserved my spirit.
13 “Yet these things You have hid in Your heart, for I know that this is with You.
14 If I sinned, You would watch me, and not acquit me of my iniquity.
15 If I am guilty, woe to me! Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head. I am full of shame and conscious of my affliction.
16 If my head is held high, You hunt me like a lion, and again work wonders against me.
17 You renew Your witnesses against me, and increase Your anger toward me, change and warfare are with me.
18 “Why then did You bring me out from the womb? I should have died so no eye would have seen me.
19 If only I had never come into being, or been carried from womb to grave.
20 Are not my days few? Then stop, leave me alone so I might have a little joy,
21 before I depart, and never return, to the land of darkness and the shadow of death,
22 the land of utter darkness, like the deepest darkness and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.”