[1] I am tired of living. Listen to my bitter complaint. [2] Don't condemn me, God. Tell me! What is the charge against me? [3] Is it right for you to be so cruel? To despise what you yourself have made? And then to smile on the schemes of wicked people? [4] Do you see things as we do? [5] Is your life as short as ours? [6] Then why do you track down all my sins and hunt down every fault I have? [7] You know that I am not guilty, that no one can save me from you. [8] Your hands formed and shaped me, and now those same hands destroy me. [9] Remember that you made me from clay; are you going to crush me back to dust? [10] You gave my father strength to beget me; you made me grow in my mother's womb. [11] You formed my body with bones and sinews and covered the bones with muscles and skin. [12] You have given me life and constant love, and your care has kept me alive. [13] But now I know that all that time you were secretly planning to harm me. [14] You were watching to see if I would sin, so that you could refuse to forgive me. [15] As soon as I sin, I'm in trouble with you, but when I do right, I get no credit. I am miserable and covered with shame. [16] If I have any success at all, you hunt me down like a lion; to hurt me you even work miracles. [17] You always have some witness against me; your anger toward me grows and grows; you always plan some new attack. [18] Why, God, did you let me be born? I should have died before anyone saw me. [19] To go from the womb straight to the grave would have been as good as never existing. [20] Isn't my life almost over? Leave me alone! Let me enjoy the time I have left. [21] I am going soon and will never come back- going to a land that is dark and gloomy, [22] a land of darkness, shadows, and confusion, where the light itself is darkness.
