Job 10
New American Standard Bible
Job Despairs of God’s Dealings
10 “[a](A)I am disgusted with my own life;
I will express (B)my complaint freely;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God, ‘(C)Do not condemn me;
Let me know why You contend with me.
3 Is it [b]right for You indeed to (D)oppress,
To reject (E)the work of Your hands,
And [c]to look favorably on (F)the plan of the wicked?
4 Do You have eyes of flesh?
Or do You (G)see as mankind sees?
5 Are Your days like the days of a mortal,
Or (H)Your years like a man’s year,
6 That (I)You should search for my guilt
And carefully seek my sin?
7 According to Your knowledge (J)I am indeed not guilty,
Yet there is (K)no one to save me from Your hand.
8 ‘(L)Your hands fashioned and made me [d]altogether,
(M)Yet would You destroy me?
9 Remember that You have made me as (N)clay;
Yet would You (O)turn me into dust again?
10 Did You not pour me out like milk,
And curdle me like cheese,
11 Clothe me with skin and flesh,
And intertwine me with bones and tendons?
12 You have (P)granted me life and [e]goodness;
And Your care has guarded my spirit.
13 Yet You have concealed (Q)these things in Your heart;
I know that this is within You:
14 If I have sinned, You will (R)take note of me,
And (S)will not acquit me of my guilt.
15 If (T)I am wicked, woe to me!
But if (U)I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head.
I am full of shame, and [f]conscious of my misery.
16 And should my head be high, (V)You would hunt me like a lion;
And You would show Your (W)power against me again.
17 You renew (X)Your witnesses against me
And increase Your anger toward me;
[g](Y)Hardship after hardship is with me.
18 ‘(Z)Why then did You bring me out of the womb?
If only I had died and no eye had seen me!
19 I should have been as though I had not been,
Brought from womb to tomb.’
20 Would He not leave (AA)my few days alone?
[h](AB)Withdraw from me so that I may have a little cheerfulness
21 Before I go—(AC)and I shall not return—
(AD)To the land of darkness and (AE)deep shadow,
22 The land of utter gloom like darkness itself,
Of deep shadow without order,
And it shines like darkness.”
Job 10
New Living Translation
Job Frames His Plea to God
10 “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.[a]
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.’”
Footnotes
- 10:10 Hebrew You poured me out like milk / and curdled me like cheese.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
