10:1 “I loathe my very life; therefore I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.
10:2 I will say to God: Do not condemn me, but tell me what charges you have against me.
10:3 Does it please you to oppress me, to spurn the work of your hands, while you smile on the schemes of the wicked?
10:4 Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see as a mortal sees?
10:5 Are your days like those of a mortal or your years like those of a man,
10:6 that you must search out my faults and probe after my sin–
10:7 though you know that I am not guilty and that no one can rescue me from your hand?
10:8 “Your hands shaped me and made me. Will you now turn and destroy me?
10:9 Remember that you molded me like clay. Will you now turn me to dust again?
10:10 Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese,
10:11 clothe me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews?
10:12 You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit.
10:13 “But this is what you concealed in your heart, and I know that this was in your mind:
10:14 If I sinned, you would be watching me and would not let my offense go unpunished.
10:15 If I am guilty–woe to me! Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head, for I am full of shame and drowned in my affliction.
10:16 If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion and again display your awesome power against me.
10:17 You bring new witnesses against me and increase your anger toward me; your forces come against me wave upon wave.
10:18 “Why then did you bring me out of the womb? I wish I had died before any eye saw me.
10:19 If only I had never come into being, or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!
10:20 Are not my few days almost over? Turn away from me so I can have a moment’s joy
10:21 before I go to the place of no return, to the land of gloom and deep shadow,
10:22 to the land of deepest night, of deep shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.”
10:1 My soul loathes my own life; / I will let my complaint have free course in me; / I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
10:2 I will say to God, Do not account me wicked; / Make known to me why You contend with me.
10:3 Does it seem good to You to oppress, / To despise the toil of Your hands / And shine upon the counsel of the wicked?
10:4 Do You have eyes of flesh? / Or do You see as a man sees?
10:5 Are Your days like the days of a man, / Or Your years like the days of a mighty man,
10:6 That You would seek out my iniquity / And search for my sin,
10:7 Even though You know that I am not wicked / And that there is none who can deliver out of Your hand?
10:8 Your hands have shaped me and made me altogether, / Yet You destroy me.
10:9 Remember now that You have made me like clay; / And will You return me to the dust?
10:10 Have You not poured me out like milk / And curdled me like cheese?
10:11 You have clothed me with skin and flesh / And woven me together with bones and sinews.
10:12 You have granted me life and lovingkindness, / And Your visitation has preserved my spirit.
10:13 But You have hidden these things in Your heart; / I know that this is with You:
10:14 If I sin, You mark me, / And You do not acquit me of my iniquity;
10:15 If I am wicked, woe unto me; / If I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head, / Being filled with dishonor and looking on my affliction.
10:16 And if my head should be lifted up, You would hunt me down like a lion, / And You would again demonstrate wonders on me.
10:17 You renew Your witnesses against me / And increase Your anger against me; / Attacking waves and a host are against me.
10:18 And why have You brought me out of the womb? / I should have died that no eye had seen me;
10:19 I should have been as though I had not been; / I should have been carried from birth to the grave.
10:20 Are not my days few? Cease then, / And let me alone, that I may be somewhat revived,
10:21 Before I go, and never return, / To the land of darkness and the shadow of death,
10:22 The land of gloom like deep darkness, / The shadow of death without order, / Which shines like deep darkness.