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
Iyov 10
Orthodox Jewish Bible
10 My nefesh is sick of my life; I will give free rein to my si’akh (complaint); I will speak in the mar (bitterness) of my nefesh.
2 I will say unto Eloah, Do not condemn me; show me what charge Thou dost contend with me.
3 Is it hatov (pleasing) unto Thee that Thou shouldest oppress, that Thou shouldest reject the work of Thine hands, and shine [favor] upon the etzah (scheme) of the resha’im?
4 Hast Thou eyes of basar? Or seest Thou as enosh seeth?
5 Are Thy yamim like the yamim of enosh? Are Thy years like the days of gever (man),
6 That Thou seekest after mine avon, and searchest after my chattat?
7 Though Thou has da’as that I am not a resha, and there is none that can deliver out of Thine yad,
8 Thine yadayim have formed me and altogether round about have fashioned me; yet Thou hast now swallowed me.
9 Remember, now, that Thou hast molded me like the chomer (clay), and wilt Thou turn me into aphar again?
10 Hast Thou not poured me out like cholov, and curdled me like gvinah (cheese)?
11 Thou hast clothed me with ohr and basar, and hast knitted me together with atzmot and sinews.
12 Thou hast granted me chayyim and chesed, and Thy visitation hath been shomer over my ruach.
13 And these things hast Thou hid in Thine lev; I have da’as that this was in Thy mind.
14 If I sin, then Thou art shomer over me, and Thou wilt not let my avon go unpunished.
15 If I am guilty, woe unto me; even if I be tzaddik (innocent), yet will I not lift up my head, being full of kalon (shame) and conscious of my oni (misery),
16 For if my head is held high, Thou stalkest me like a fierce lion, and ever Thou displayest Thy awesome power against me.
17 Thou bringest Thy fresh edim (witnesses) against me, and increasest Thine hot indignation toward me; in waves Thy tzava troop against me.
18 Why then hast Thou brought me forth out of the rechem (womb)? Oh that I had expired, and no eye had seen me!
19 I should have been as though I had never been; I should have been carried from the beten straight to the kever.
20 Are not my yamim few? Then cease, and let me alone, that I may take a little cheer
21 Before I go from where I shall not return, even to the Eretz Choshech V’Tzalmavet,
22 An eretz of darkness, like darkness itself; and of tzalmavet, no sedarim (order), where the light is like 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.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International