²⁶ Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;
    when I looked for light, then came darkness.^(A)
27 The churning inside me never stops;^(B)
    days of suffering confront me.^(C)
28 I go about blackened,^(D) but not by the sun;
    I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.^(E)
29 I have become a brother of jackals,^(F)
    a companion of owls.^(G)
30 My skin grows black^(H) and peels;^(I)
    my body burns with fever.^(J)
31 My lyre is tuned to mourning,^(K)
    and my pipe^(L) to the sound of wailing.

² “I know that you can do all things;^(A)
    no purpose of yours can be thwarted.^(B)
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’^(C)
    Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
    things too wonderful for me to know.^(D)

⁴ “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
    I will question you,
    and you shall answer me.’^(E)
5 My ears had heard of you^(F)
    but now my eyes have seen you.^(G)
6 Therefore I despise myself^(H)
    and repent^(I) in dust and ashes.”^(J)