Job 10
Revised Standard Version
Job: I Loathe My Life
10 “I loathe my life;
I will give free utterance to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God, Do not condemn me;
let me know why thou dost contend against me.
3 Does it seem good to thee to oppress,
to despise the work of thy hands
and favor the designs of the wicked?
4 Hast thou eyes of flesh?
Dost thou see as man sees?
5 Are thy days as the days of man,
or thy years as man’s years,
6 that thou dost seek out my iniquity
and search for my sin,
7 although thou knowest that I am not guilty,
and there is none to deliver out of thy hand?
8 Thy hands fashioned and made me;
and now thou dost turn about and destroy me.[a]
9 Remember that thou hast made me of clay;[b]
and wilt thou turn me to dust again?
10 Didst thou not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese?
11 Thou didst clothe me with skin and flesh,
and knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 Thou hast granted me life and steadfast love;
and thy care has preserved my spirit.
13 Yet these things thou didst hide in thy heart;
I know that this was thy purpose.
14 If I sin, thou dost mark me,
and dost not acquit me of my iniquity.
15 If I am wicked, woe to me!
If I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head,
for I am filled with disgrace
and look upon my affliction.
16 And if I lift myself up,[c] thou dost hunt me like a lion,
and again work wonders against me;
17 thou dost renew thy witnesses against me,
and increase thy vexation toward me;
thou dost bring fresh hosts against me.[d]
18 “Why didst thou bring me forth from the womb?
Would that I had died before any eye had seen me,
19 and were as though I had not been,
carried from the womb to the grave.
20 Are not the days of my life few?[e]
Let me alone, that I may find a little comfort[f]
21 before I go whence I shall not return,
to the land of gloom and deep darkness,
22 the land of gloom[g] and chaos,
where light is as darkness.”
Footnotes
- Job 10:8 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Heb made me together round about and thou dost destroy me
- Job 10:9 Gk: Heb like clay
- Job 10:16 Syr: Heb he lifts himself up
- Job 10:17 Cn Compare Gk: Heb changes and a host are with me
- Job 10:20 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Heb Are not my days few? Let him cease
- Job 10:20 Heb brighten up
- Job 10:22 Heb gloom as darkness, deep darkness
Job 10
American Standard Version
10 My soul is weary of my life;
I will give free course to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say unto God, Do not condemn me;
Show me wherefore thou contendest with me.
3 Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress,
That thou shouldest despise the [a]work of thy hands,
And shine upon the counsel of the wicked?
4 Hast thou eyes of flesh?
Or seest thou as man seeth?
5 Are thy days as the days of man,
Or thy years as man’s days,
6 That thou inquirest after mine iniquity,
And searchest after my sin,
7 Although thou knowest that I am not wicked,
And there is none that can deliver out of thy hand?
8 Thy hands have framed me and fashioned me
Together round about; yet thou dost destroy me.
9 Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast fashioned me as clay;
And wilt thou bring me into dust again?
10 Hast thou not poured me out as milk,
And curdled me like cheese?
11 Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh,
And knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 Thou hast granted me life and lovingkindness;
And thy [b]visitation hath preserved my spirit.
13 Yet these things thou didst hide in thy heart;
I know that this is with thee:
14 If I sin, then thou markest me,
And thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.
15 If I be wicked, woe unto me;
And if I be righteous, yet shall I not lift up my head;
[c]Being filled with ignominy,
And looking upon mine affliction.
16 And if my head exalt itself, thou huntest me as a lion;
And again thou showest thyself marvellous upon me.
17 Thou renewest thy witnesses against me,
And increasest thine indignation upon me:
[d]Changes and warfare are with me.
18 Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb?
I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me.
19 I should have been as though I had not been;
I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.
20 Are not my days few? [e]cease then,
And let me alone, that I may [f]take comfort a little,
21 Before I go whence I shall not return,
Even to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death;
22 The land dark as [g]midnight,
The land of the shadow of death, without any order,
And where the light is as [h]midnight.
Footnotes
- Job 10:3 Hebrew labor.
- Job 10:12 Or, care
- Job 10:15 Or, I am filled with ignominy, but look thou . . . for it increaseth: thou etc.
- Job 10:17 Or, Host after host is against me.
- Job 10:20 Another reading is, let him cease, and leave me alone.
- Job 10:20 Hebrew brighten up.
- Job 10:22 Hebrew thick darkness.
- Job 10:22 Hebrew thick darkness.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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