[1] “I loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul. [2] I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me. [3] Does it please You to oppress me, to reject the work of Your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked? [4] Do You have eyes of flesh? Do You see as man sees? [5] Are Your days like those of a mortal, or Your years like those of a man, [6] that You should seek my iniquity and search out my sin — [7] though You know that I am not guilty, and there is no deliverance from Your hand? [8] Your hands shaped me and altogether formed me. Would You now turn and destroy me? [9] Please remember that You molded me like clay. Would You now return me to dust? [10] Did You not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese? [11] You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. [12] You have granted me life and loving devotion, and Your care has preserved my spirit. [13] Yet You concealed these things in Your heart, and I know that this was in Your mind: [14] If I sinned, You would take note, and would not acquit me of my iniquity. [15] If I am guilty, woe to me! And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift my head. I am full of shame and aware of my affliction. [16] Should I hold my head high, You would hunt me like a lion, and again display Your power against me. [17] You produce new witnesses against me and multiply Your anger toward me. Hardships assault me in wave after wave. [18] Why then did You bring me from the womb? Oh, that I had died, and no eye had seen me! [19] If only I had never come to be, but had been carried from the womb to the grave. [20] Are my days not few? Withdraw from me, that I may have a little comfort, [21] before I go — never to return —to a land of darkness and gloom, [22] to a land of utter darkness, of deep shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.”
