Job 10
Common English Bible
Complaint to God
10 I loathe my life; I will let loose my complaint;
I will speak out of my own bitterness.
2 I will say to God, Don’t declare me guilty;
tell me what you are accusing me of doing.
3 Does it seem good to you that you oppress me,
that you reject the work of your hands
and cause the purpose of sinners to shine?
4 Do you have physical eyes;
do you see like a human?
5 Are your days like those of a human,
your years like years of a human,
6 that you search for my wrongdoing
and seek my sin?
7 You know that I’m not guilty,
yet no one delivers me from your power.
Creator
8 Your hands fashioned and made me;
yet you want to destroy me utterly.
9 Remember that you made me from[a] clay,
and you will return me to dust.
10 Didn’t you pour me out like milk,
curdle me like cheese?
11 You clothed me with skin and flesh,
wove me from bones and sinews.
12 Life and kindness you gave me,
and you oversaw and preserved my breath.
No hiding place
13 These things you hid in your heart;
I know this is the case with you.
14 If I sin and you observe me,
you won’t consider me innocent of wrongdoing.
15 If I were guilty, doom to me;
I’m innocent, but can’t lift my head,
full of shame and facing my misery.
16 I could boast like a lion, and you would hunt me;
you would do awesome things to me again.
17 You continue to send your witnesses against me
and increase your anger toward me,
a swift army against me.[b]
Death wish
18 Why did you let me emerge from the womb?
I wish I had died without any eye seeing me.
19 Then I would be just as if I hadn’t existed,
taken from the belly to the grave.
20 Aren’t my few days coming to an end?
Look away from me so I can brighten up a little
21 before I go and don’t return
to a land of deepest darkness,
22 a land whose light is like gloom,
utter darkness and confusion,
such that light shines like gloom.
Job 10
Amplified Bible
Job Despairs of God’s Dealings
10 “I am disgusted with my life and loathe it!
I will give free expression to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2
“I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me [and declare me guilty]!
Show me why You contend and argue and struggle with me.
3
‘Does it indeed seem right to You to oppress,
To despise and reject the work of Your hands,
And to look with favor on the schemes of the wicked?
4
‘Do You have eyes of flesh?
Do You see as a man sees?
5
‘Are Your days as the days of a mortal,
Are Your years as man’s years,
6
That You seek my guilt
And search for my sin?
7
‘Although You know that I am not guilty or wicked,
Yet there is no one who can rescue me from Your hand.
8
‘Your hands have formed and made me altogether.
Would You [turn around and] destroy me?
9
‘Remember now, that You have made me as clay;
So will You turn me into dust again?
10
‘Have You not poured me out like milk
And curdled me like cheese?
11
‘[You have] clothed me with skin and flesh,
And knit me together with bones and sinews.
12
‘You have granted me life and lovingkindness;
And Your providence (divine care, supervision) has preserved my spirit.
13
‘Yet these [present evils] You have hidden in Your heart [since my creation]:
I know that this was within You [in Your purpose and thought].
14
‘If I sin, then You would take note and observe me,
And You would not acquit me of my guilt.
15
‘If I am wicked, woe to me [for judgment comes]!
And if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head.
For I am sated and filled with disgrace and the sight of my misery.
16
‘Should I lift my head up, You would hunt me like a lion;
And again You would show Your marvelous power against me.
17
‘You renew Your witnesses against me
And increase Your indignation and anger toward me;
Hardship after hardship is with me [attacking me time after time].
18
‘Why then did You bring me out of the womb?
Would that I had perished and no eye had seen me!
19
‘I should have been as though I had not existed;
[I should have been] carried from the womb to the grave.’
20
“Would He not let my few days alone,
Withdraw from me that I may have a little cheer
21
Before I go—and I shall not return—
To the land of darkness and the deep shadow [of death],
22
The [sunless] land of utter gloom as darkness itself,
[The land] of the shadow of death, without order,
And [where] it shines as [thick] darkness.”
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
