³ But better than both
    is the one who has never been born,^(A)
who has not seen the evil
    that is done under the sun.^(B)

¹⁷ For he did not kill me in the womb,^(A)
    with my mother as my grave,
    her womb enlarged forever.
¹⁸ Why did I ever come out of the womb^(B)
    to see trouble^(C) and sorrow
    and to end my days in shame?^(D)

³ “They make ready their tongue
    like a bow, to shoot lies;^(D)
it is not by truth
    that they triumph^[a] in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
    they do not acknowledge^(E) me,”
declares the Lord.

⁶ I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
    I would fly away and be at rest.
⁷ I would flee far away
    and stay in the desert;^[a](A)
8 I would hurry to my place of shelter,^(B)
    far from the tempest and storm.^(C)”

⁹ Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words,^(D)
    for I see violence and strife^(E) in the city.^(F)
10 Day and night they prowl^(G) about on its walls;
    malice and abuse are within it.
¹¹ Destructive forces^(H) are at work in the city;
    threats and lies^(I) never leave its streets.

¹⁸ “Why then did you bring me out of the womb?^(A)
    I wish I had died before any eye saw me.^(B)
19 If only I had never come into being,
    or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!^(C)