^3 (B)“Let the day perish on which I was born,
    and the night that said,
    ‘A man is conceived.’
⁴ Let that day be darkness!
    May God above not seek it,
    nor light shine upon it.
⁵ Let gloom and ^(C)deep darkness claim it.
    Let clouds dwell upon it;
    let the blackness of the day terrify it.
⁶ That night—let thick darkness seize it!
    Let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
    let it not come into the number of the months.
⁷ Behold, let that night be barren;
    let no joyful cry enter it.
⁸ Let those curse it who curse the day,
    who are ready to rouse up ^(D)Leviathan.
⁹ Let the stars of its dawn be dark;
    let it hope for light, but have none,
    nor see ^(E)the eyelids of the morning,
¹⁰ because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb,
    nor hide trouble from my eyes.

² “If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
    Yet who can keep from speaking?
³ Behold, you have instructed many,
    and you have ^(A)strengthened the weak hands.
⁴ Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,
    and you have ^(B)made firm the feeble knees.
⁵ But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;
    it touches you, and you are dismayed.
^6 (C)Is not your fear of God^[a] your ^(D)confidence,
    and the integrity of your ways your hope?

⁷ “Remember: ^(E)who that was innocent ever perished?
    Or where were the upright cut off?
⁸ As I have seen, those who ^(F)plow iniquity
    and sow trouble reap the same.
⁹ By ^(G)the breath of God they perish,
    and by ^(H)the blast of his anger they are consumed.

¹¹ “Therefore I will not ^(A)restrain my mouth;
    I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
    I will ^(B)complain in ^(C)the bitterness of my soul.
¹² Am I the sea, or ^(D)a sea monster,
    that you set a guard over me?
^13 (E)When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
    my couch will ease my complaint,’
¹⁴ then you scare me with dreams
    and terrify me with visions,
¹⁵ so that I would choose strangling
    and death rather than my ^(F)bones.
¹⁶ I ^(G)loathe my life; I would not live forever.
    ^(H)Leave me alone, for my days are ^(I)a breath.
^17 (J)What is man, that you make so much of him,
    and that you set your heart on him,
^18 (K)visit him every morning
    and ^(L)test him every moment?
¹⁹ How long will you not ^(M)look away from me,
    nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?
²⁰ If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind?
    Why have you made me ^(N)your mark?
    Why have I become a burden to you?
²¹ Why do you not pardon my transgression
    and take away my iniquity?
For now I shall lie in ^(O)the earth;
    you will ^(P)seek me, ^(Q)but I shall not be.”