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18 “ ‘Why did you bring me forth from the womb?
    Would that I had died before any eye had seen me(A)
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?[a]
    Let me alone, that I may find a little comfort[b](B)
21 before I go, never to return,
    to the land of gloom and deep darkness,
22 the land of gloom[c] and chaos,
    where light is like darkness.’ ”

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Footnotes

  1. 10.20 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Heb Are not my days few? Let him cease!
  2. 10.20 Heb that I may brighten up a little
  3. 10.22 Heb gloom as darkness, deep darkness

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.

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