¹¹ “Why did I not die at birth,
    come forth from the womb and expire?^(A)
12 Why were there knees to receive me
    or breasts for me to suck?^(B)
13 Now I would be lying down and quiet;
    I would be asleep; then I would be at rest
¹⁴ with kings and counselors of the earth
    who rebuild ruins for themselves,^(C)
15 or with princes who have gold,
    who fill their houses with silver.
¹⁶ Or why was I not buried like a stillborn child,
    like an infant that never sees the light?^(D)
17 There the wicked cease from troubling,
    and there the weary are at rest.^(E)
18 There the prisoners are at ease together;
    they do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.
¹⁹ The small and the great are there,
    and the slaves are free from their masters.

²⁰ “Why is light given to one in misery
    and life to the bitter in soul,^(F)
21 who long for death, but it does not come,
    and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;^(G)
22 who rejoice exceedingly
    and are glad when they find the grave?
²³ Why is light given to one who cannot see the way,
    whom God has fenced in?^(H)
24 For my sighing comes like^[a] my bread,
    and my groanings are poured out like water.^(I)
25 Truly the thing that I fear comes upon me,
    and what I dread befalls me.
²⁶ I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
    I have no rest, but trouble comes.”