¹⁰ I said, “In the prime of my life,
    must I now enter the place of the dead?^[a]
    Am I to be robbed of the rest of my years?”

²⁴ But I cried to him, “O my God, who lives forever,
    don’t take my life while I am so young!

¹⁸ They couldn’t stand the thought of food,
    and they were knocking on death’s door.

¹¹ My days are over.
    My hopes have disappeared.
    My heart’s desires are broken.
¹² These men say that night is day;
    they claim that the darkness is light.
¹³ What if I go to the grave^[a]
    and make my bed in darkness?
¹⁴ What if I call the grave my father,
    and the maggot my mother or my sister?
¹⁵ Where then is my hope?
    Can anyone find it?
¹⁶ No, my hope will go down with me to the grave.
    We will rest together in the dust!”

¹¹ But I don’t have the strength to endure.
    I have nothing to live for.