[1] "I am disgusted with my life. Let me complain freely. My bitter soul must complain. [2] I will say to God, 'Don't simply condemn me- tell me the charge you are bringing against me. [3] What do you gain by oppressing me? Why do you reject me, the work of your own hands, while smiling on the schemes of the wicked? [4] Are your eyes like those of a human? Do you see things only as people see them? [5] Is your lifetime only as long as ours? Is your life so short [6] that you must quickly probe for my guilt and search for my sin? [7] Although you know I am not guilty, no one can rescue me from your hands. [8] "'You formed me with your hands; you made me, yet now you completely destroy me. [9] Remember that you made me from dust- will you turn me back to dust so soon? [10] You guided my conception and formed me in the womb. [11] You clothed me with skin and flesh, and you knit my bones and sinews together. [12] You gave me life and showed me your unfailing love. My life was preserved by your care. [13] "'Yet your real motive- your true intent- [14] was to watch me, and if I sinned, you would not forgive my guilt. [15] If I am guilty, too bad for me; and even if I'm innocent, I can't hold my head high, because I am filled with shame and misery. [16] And if I hold my head high, you hunt me like a lion and display your awesome power against me. [17] Again and again you witness against me. You pour out your growing anger on me and bring fresh armies against me. [18] "'Why, then, did you deliver me from my mother's womb? Why didn't you let me die at birth? [19] It would be as though I had never existed, going directly from the womb to the grave. [20] I have only a few days left, so leave me alone, that I may have a moment of comfort [21] before I leave-never to return- for the land of darkness and utter gloom. [22] It is a land as dark as midnight, a land of gloom and confusion, where even the light is dark as midnight.'"
