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Job Cries Out to God

10 (A)My soul is loathed by my life;
I will abandon all restraint in myself to (B)my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
I will say to God, ‘(C)Do not account me as wicked;
Let me know why You contend with me.
Is it good to You that You (D)oppress,
That You reject (E)the labor of Your hands,
And [a]cause (F)the counsel of the wicked to shine forth?
Have You eyes of flesh?
Or do You (G)see as a mortal man sees?
Are Your days as the days of a mortal man,
Or (H)Your years as man’s years,
That (I)You should seek for my guilt
And search after my sin?
According to Your knowledge (J)I am indeed not wicked,
Yet there is (K)no [b]deliverer from Your hand.

(L)Your hands fashioned and made me [c]altogether,
(M)And would You swallow me up?
Remember now, that You have made me as (N)clay;
And would You (O)turn me into dust again?
10 Did You not pour me out like milk
And curdle me like cheese,
11 Clothe me with skin and flesh,
And knit me together with bones and sinews?
12 You have (P)made alongside me life and lovingkindness;
And Your care has kept my spirit.
13 Yet (Q)these things You have concealed in Your heart;
I know that this is within You:
14 If I sin, then You would (R)take note of me
And (S)would not acquit me of my guilt.
15 If (T)I am wicked, woe to me!
And (U)if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head.
I am sated with disgrace—so see my misery!
16 Should my head be set on high, (V)You would hunt me like a lion;
And again You would show Your (W)wonders against me.
17 You renew (X)Your witnesses against me
And increase Your vexation toward me;
[d](Y)Hardship after hardship is with me.

18 (Z)Why then have You brought me out of the womb?
Would that I had breathed my last and no eye had seen me!
19 I should have been as though I had not been,
Carried from womb to tomb.’
20 Would He not cease (AA)for a few of my days?
[e](AB)Withdraw from me that I may have a little cheer
21 Before I go—(AC)and I shall not return—
(AD)To the land of darkness and (AE)shadow of death,
22 The land of utter gloom as the thick darkness itself,
Of the shadow of death, without order,
And which shines as the thick darkness.”

Footnotes

  1. Job 10:3 Lit You shine forth
  2. Job 10:7 Or deliverance
  3. Job 10:8 Lit together round about
  4. Job 10:17 Lit Changes and warfare are with me
  5. Job 10:20 Lit Put

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