Job 10
English Standard Version
Job Continues: A Plea to God
10 “I (A)loathe my life;
I will give free utterance to my (B)complaint;
I will speak in (C)the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God, Do not (D)condemn me;
let me know why you (E)contend against me.
3 (F)Does it seem good to you to oppress,
to despise (G)the work of your hands
(H)and favor the designs of the wicked?
4 Have you (I)eyes of flesh?
(J)Do you see as man sees?
5 Are your days as the days of man,
or your (K)years as a man's years,
6 that you (L)seek out my iniquity
and search for my sin,
7 although you (M)know that I am not guilty,
and there is (N)none to deliver out of your hand?
8 (O)Your hands fashioned and made me,
and now you have destroyed me altogether.
9 Remember that you have made me like (P)clay;
and will you return me to the (Q)dust?
10 Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese?
11 You clothed me with skin and flesh,
and knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 You have granted me life and steadfast love,
and your care has preserved my spirit.
13 Yet these things you hid in your heart;
I know that (R)this was your purpose.
14 If I sin, you (S)watch me
and do not (T)acquit me of my iniquity.
15 (U)If I am guilty, woe to me!
If I am (V)in the right, I cannot lift up my head,
for I am filled with disgrace
and (W)look on my affliction.
16 And were my head lifted up,[a] you would hunt me like (X)a lion
and again work (Y)wonders against me.
17 You renew your (Z)witnesses against me
and increase your vexation toward me;
you (AA)bring fresh troops against me.
18 (AB)“Why did you bring me out from the womb?
Would that I had died before any eye had seen me
19 (AC)and were as though I had not been,
carried from the womb to the grave.
20 (AD)Are not my days few?
(AE)Then cease, and leave me alone, (AF)that I may find a little cheer
21 before I go—and (AG)I shall not return—
to the land of (AH)darkness and (AI)deep shadow,
22 the land of gloom like thick darkness,
like deep shadow without any order,
where light is as thick darkness.”
Footnotes
- Job 10:16 Hebrew lacks my head
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.
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