10 “I loathe my life;
I will give free utterance to my complaint;
    I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
² I will say to God, Do not condemn me;
    let me know why thou dost contend against me.
³ Does it seem good to thee to oppress,
    to despise the work of thy hands
    and favor the designs of the wicked?
⁴ Hast thou eyes of flesh?
    Dost thou see as man sees?
⁵ Are thy days as the days of man,
    or thy years as man’s years,
⁶ that thou dost seek out my iniquity
    and search for my sin,
⁷ although thou knowest that I am not guilty,
    and there is none to deliver out of thy hand?
⁸ Thy hands fashioned and made me;
    and now thou dost turn about and destroy me.^[a]
9 Remember that thou hast made me of clay;^[b]
    and wilt thou turn me to dust again?
¹⁰ Didst thou not pour me out like milk
    and curdle me like cheese?
¹¹ Thou didst clothe me with skin and flesh,
    and knit me together with bones and sinews.
¹² Thou hast granted me life and steadfast love;
    and thy care has preserved my spirit.
¹³ Yet these things thou didst hide in thy heart;
    I know that this was thy purpose.
¹⁴ If I sin, thou dost mark me,
    and dost not acquit me of my iniquity.
¹⁵ If I am wicked, woe to me!
    If I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head,
for I am filled with disgrace
    and look upon my affliction.
¹⁶ And if I lift myself up,^[c] thou dost hunt me like a lion,
    and again work wonders against me;
¹⁷ thou dost renew thy witnesses against me,
    and increase thy vexation toward me;
    thou dost bring fresh hosts against me.^[d]