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11 Why from the womb do I not die? From the belly I have come forth and gasp!

12 Wherefore have knees been before me? And what [are] breasts, that I suck?

13 For now, I have lain down, and am quiet, I have slept -- then there is rest to me,

14 With kings and counsellors of earth, These building wastes for themselves.

15 Or with princes -- they have gold, They are filling their houses [with] silver.

16 (Or as a hidden abortion I am not, As infants -- they have not seen light.)

17 There the wicked have ceased troubling, And there rest do the wearied in power.

18 Together prisoners have been at ease, They have not heard the voice of an exactor,

19 Small and great [are] there the same. And a servant [is] free from his lord.

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11 “Why did I not perish at birth,
    and die as I came from the womb?(A)
12 Why were there knees to receive me(B)
    and breasts that I might be nursed?
13 For now I would be lying down(C) in peace;
    I would be asleep and at rest(D)
14 with kings and rulers of the earth,(E)
    who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,(F)
15 with princes(G) who had gold,
    who filled their houses with silver.(H)
16 Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,(I)
    like an infant who never saw the light of day?(J)
17 There the wicked cease from turmoil,(K)
    and there the weary are at rest.(L)
18 Captives(M) also enjoy their ease;
    they no longer hear the slave driver’s(N) shout.(O)
19 The small and the great are there,(P)
    and the slaves are freed from their owners.

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