² “I have heard many things like these;
^[a](A)Miserable comforters are you all!
³ Is there no end to ^(B)windy words?
Or what provokes you that you answer?
⁴ I too could speak like you,
If only ^[b]I were in your place.
I could compose words against you
And ^(C)shake my head at you.
⁵ Or I could strengthen you with my mouth,
And the condolence of my lips could lessen your pain.

⁶ “If I speak, ^(D)my pain is not lessened,
And if I refrain, what pain leaves me?
⁷ But now He has ^(E)exhausted me;
You have laid ^(F)waste all my group of loved ones.
⁸ And You have shriveled me up,
^[c](G)It has become a witness;
And my ^(H)infirmity rises up against me,
It testifies to my face.
⁹ His anger has ^(I)torn me and ^[d]hunted me down,
He has ^(J)gnashed at me with His teeth;
My ^(K)enemy ^[e]glares at me.
¹⁰ They have ^(L)gaped at me with their mouths,
They have ^[f](M)slapped me on the cheek with contempt;
They have ^(N)massed themselves against me.
¹¹ God hands me over to criminals,
And tosses me into the hands of the wicked.
¹² I was at ease, but ^(O)He shattered me,
And He has grasped me by my neck and shaken me to pieces;
He has also set me up as His ^(P)target.
¹³ His ^(Q)arrows surround me.
He splits my kidneys open without mercy;
He pours out ^(R)my bile on the ground.
¹⁴ He ^(S)breaks through me with breach after breach;
He ^(T)runs at me like a warrior.
¹⁵ I have sewed ^(U)sackcloth over my skin,
And ^(V)thrust my horn in the dust.
¹⁶ My face is flushed from ^(W)weeping,
^(X)And deep darkness is on my eyelids,
¹⁷ Although there is no ^(Y)violence in my hands,
And ^(Z)my prayer is pure.