18 “Why then did you bring me out of the womb?(A)
    I wish I had died before any eye saw me.(B)
19 If only I had never come into being,
    or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!(C)
20 Are not my few days(D) almost over?(E)
    Turn away from me(F) so I can have a moment’s joy(G)
21 before I go to the place of no return,(H)
    to the land of gloom and utter darkness,(I)
22 to the land of deepest night,
    of utter darkness(J) and disorder,
    where even the light is like darkness.”(K)

Read full chapter

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.

Read full chapter