10 I am disgusted with my life.(A)
I will give vent to my complaint
and speak in the bitterness of my soul.
I will say to God,
“Do not declare me guilty!
Let me know why you prosecute me.
Is it good for you to oppress,
to reject the work of your hands,(B)
and favor[a] the plans of the wicked?(C)
Do you have eyes of flesh,
or do you see as a human sees?
Are your days like those of a human,
or your years like those of a man,(D)
that you look for my iniquity(E)
and search for my sin,
even though you know that I am not wicked
and that there is no one who can rescue from your power?(F)

“Your hands shaped me and formed me.(G)
Will you now turn and destroy me?
Please remember that you formed me like clay.
Will you now return me to dust?(H)
10 Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese?
11 You clothed me with skin and flesh,
and wove me together with bones and tendons.(I)
12 You gave me life and faithful love,
and your care has guarded my life.

13 “Yet you concealed these thoughts in your heart;
I know that this was your hidden plan:[b]
14 if I sin, you would notice,[c]
and would not acquit me of my iniquity.(J)
15 If I am wicked, woe to me!
And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head.
I am filled with shame(K)
and have drunk deeply of[d] my affliction.(L)
16 If I am proud,[e] you hunt me like a lion
and again display your miraculous power against me.(M)
17 You produce new witnesses[f] against me
and multiply your anger toward me.
Hardships assault me, wave after wave.[g]

18 “Why did you bring me out of the womb?(N)
I should have died and never been seen.
19 I wish[h] I had never existed
but had been carried from the womb to the grave.(O)
20 Are my days not few? Stop it![i]
Leave me alone, so that I can smile a little
21 before I go to a land of darkness and gloom,(P)
never to return.
22 It is a land of blackness like the deepest darkness,
gloomy and chaotic,
where even the light is like[j] the darkness.”

Footnotes

  1. 10:3 Lit shine on
  2. 10:13 Lit was with you
  3. 10:14 Lit notice me
  4. 10:15 Or and look at
  5. 10:16 Lit If he lifts up
  6. 10:17 Or You bring fresh troops
  7. 10:17 Lit Changes and a host are with me
  8. 10:19 Lit As if
  9. 10:20 Alt Hb tradition reads Will he not leave my few days alone?
  10. 10:22 Lit chaotic, and shines as

Job Asks God to Acquit Him

10 “I am disgusted with living,
    so I’m going to talk about my complaint freely.
        I’ll speak out from the bitterness of my soul.
I’ll say to God,
    ‘Don’t condemn me!
        Let me know why you are fighting me.
Does it delight you to oppress
    or despise what you have made,
        while you smile at the plans of the wicked?[a]
Do you have eyes made of flesh?
    Can you look at things as humans do?
Can you live only as long as a human being?
    Or live the years[b] of a mortal man?

“‘For you seek out my iniquity
    and search for my sin.
Although you know that I’m not guilty,
    there’s no one to deliver me from you![c]
Your hands formed and fashioned me,
    but then you have destroyed me all at once on all sides.

“‘Please remember that you’ve made me like clay
    and you’ll return me to dust.
10 Didn’t you pour me out like milk
    and let me congeal like cheese?
11 You covered me with skin and flesh,
    weaving me together with bones and sinews.
12 You gave life and gracious love to me;
    your providential care has preserved my spirit.
13 But you’ve hidden these things in your heart—
    I know this was your purpose:[d]
14 If I sin, you watch me
    and won’t acquit me for my iniquity.

15 “‘Woe to me if I’m guilty!
    If I’m innocent, I cannot lift my head,
because I am filled with disgrace.
    Look at my affliction!
16 But if I do lift up my head,
    you will hunt me like a lion!
        You will perform miracles in order to fight against me.

17 “‘You have brought new witnesses against me,
    you’re even more angry with me—
        you’ve brought fresh troops to attack me!
18 So why did you bring me out from the womb?
    I wish I had died, before anyone had seen me,
19 as if I had never existed;
    carried from the womb to the grave.
20 My days are so few, aren’t they?
    So leave me alone, then,
        so I can smile a little
21 before I go, never to return,
    leaving for the land of deep darkness and shadow.
22 It’s a gloomy land, like deepest darkness;
    where there’s no order,
        and where even[e] the brightness is like darkness.’”

Footnotes

  1. Job 10:3 Lit. you cause the plans of the wicked to shine
  2. Job 10:5 Lit. days
  3. Job 10:7 Lit. from your hand
  4. Job 10:13 Or was in you
  5. Job 10:22 The Heb. lacks even