²¹ Why do you not pardon my offenses
    and forgive my sins?^(A)
For I will soon lie down in the dust;^(B)
    you will search for me, but I will be no more.”^(C)

10 “I loathe my very life;^(A)
    therefore I will give free rein to my complaint
    and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.^(B)
2 I say to God:^(C) Do not declare me guilty,
    but tell me what charges^(D) you have against me.^(E)
3 Does it please you to oppress me,^(F)
    to spurn the work of your hands,^(G)
    while you smile on the plans of the wicked?^(H)
4 Do you have eyes of flesh?
    Do you see as a mortal sees?^(I)
5 Are your days like those of a mortal
    or your years like those of a strong man,^(J)
6 that you must search out my faults
    and probe after my sin^(K)—
⁷ though you know that I am not guilty^(L)
    and that no one can rescue me from your hand?^(M)

⁸ “Your hands shaped^(N) me and made me.
    Will you now turn and destroy me?^(O)
9 Remember that you molded me like clay.^(P)
    Will you now turn me to dust again?^(Q)
10 Did you not pour me out like milk
    and curdle me like cheese,
¹¹ clothe me with skin and flesh
    and knit me together^(R) with bones and sinews?
¹² You gave me life^(S) and showed me kindness,^(T)
    and in your providence^(U) watched over^(V) my spirit.

¹³ “But this is what you concealed in your heart,
    and I know that this was in your mind:^(W)
14 If I sinned, you would be watching me^(X)
    and would not let my offense go unpunished.^(Y)
15 If I am guilty^(Z)—woe to me!^(AA)
    Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head,^(AB)
for I am full of shame
    and drowned in^[a] my affliction.^(AC)
16 If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion^(AD)
    and again display your awesome power against me.^(AE)
17 You bring new witnesses against me^(AF)
    and increase your anger toward me;^(AG)
    your forces come against me wave upon wave.^(AH)

¹⁸ “Why then did you bring me out of the womb?^(AI)
    I wish I had died before any eye saw me.^(AJ)
19 If only I had never come into being,
    or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!^(AK)
20 Are not my few days^(AL) almost over?^(AM)
    Turn away from me^(AN) so I can have a moment’s joy^(AO)
21 before I go to the place of no return,^(AP)
    to the land of gloom and utter darkness,^(AQ)
22 to the land of deepest night,
    of utter darkness^(AR) and disorder,
    where even the light is like darkness.”^(AS)

² “If only my anguish could be weighed
    and all my misery be placed on the scales!^(A)
3 It would surely outweigh the sand^(B) of the seas—
    no wonder my words have been impetuous.^(C)
4 The arrows^(D) of the Almighty^(E) are in me,^(F)
    my spirit drinks^(G) in their poison;^(H)
    God’s terrors^(I) are marshaled against me.^(J)
5 Does a wild donkey^(K) bray^(L) when it has grass,
    or an ox bellow when it has fodder?^(M)
6 Is tasteless food eaten without salt,
    or is there flavor in the sap of the mallow^[a]?^(N)
7 I refuse to touch it;
    such food makes me ill.^(O)

⁸ “Oh, that I might have my request,
    that God would grant what I hope for,^(P)
9 that God would be willing to crush^(Q) me,
    to let loose his hand and cut off my life!^(R)
10 Then I would still have this consolation^(S)—
    my joy in unrelenting pain^(T)—
    that I had not denied the words^(U) of the Holy One.^(V)

¹¹ “What strength do I have, that I should still hope?
    What prospects, that I should be patient?^(W)
12 Do I have the strength of stone?
    Is my flesh bronze?^(X)
13 Do I have any power to help myself,^(Y)
    now that success has been driven from me?

¹⁴ “Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend^(Z)
    forsakes the fear of the Almighty.^(AA)
15 But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams,^(AB)
    as the streams that overflow
¹⁶ when darkened by thawing ice
    and swollen with melting snow,^(AC)
17 but that stop flowing in the dry season,
    and in the heat^(AD) vanish from their channels.
¹⁸ Caravans turn aside from their routes;
    they go off into the wasteland and perish.
¹⁹ The caravans of Tema^(AE) look for water,
    the traveling merchants of Sheba^(AF) look in hope.
²⁰ They are distressed, because they had been confident;
    they arrive there, only to be disappointed.^(AG)
21 Now you too have proved to be of no help;
    you see something dreadful and are afraid.^(AH)
22 Have I ever said, ‘Give something on my behalf,
    pay a ransom^(AI) for me from your wealth,^(AJ)
23 deliver me from the hand of the enemy,
    rescue me from the clutches of the ruthless’?^(AK)

²⁴ “Teach me, and I will be quiet;^(AL)
    show me where I have been wrong.^(AM)
25 How painful are honest words!^(AN)
    But what do your arguments prove?
²⁶ Do you mean to correct what I say,
    and treat my desperate words as wind?^(AO)
27 You would even cast lots^(AP) for the fatherless^(AQ)
    and barter away your friend.

²⁸ “But now be so kind as to look at me.
    Would I lie to your face?^(AR)
29 Relent, do not be unjust;^(AS)
    reconsider, for my integrity^(AT) is at stake.^[b](AU)
30 Is there any wickedness on my lips?^(AV)
    Can my mouth not discern^(AW) malice?

14 “Mortals, born of woman,^(A)
    are of few days^(B) and full of trouble.^(C)
2 They spring up like flowers^(D) and wither away;^(E)
    like fleeting shadows,^(F) they do not endure.^(G)
3 Do you fix your eye on them?^(H)
    Will you bring them^[a] before you for judgment?^(I)
4 Who can bring what is pure^(J) from the impure?^(K)
    No one!^(L)
5 A person’s days are determined;^(M)
    you have decreed the number of his months^(N)
    and have set limits he cannot exceed.^(O)
6 So look away from him and let him alone,^(P)
    till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.^(Q)

⁷ “At least there is hope for a tree:^(R)
    If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
    and its new shoots^(S) will not fail.^(T)
8 Its roots may grow old in the ground
    and its stump^(U) die in the soil,
⁹ yet at the scent of water^(V) it will bud
    and put forth shoots like a plant.^(W)
10 But a man dies and is laid low;^(X)
    he breathes his last and is no more.^(Y)
11 As the water of a lake dries up
    or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,^(Z)
12 so he lies down and does not rise;^(AA)
    till the heavens are no more,^(AB) people will not awake
    or be roused from their sleep.^(AC)

¹³ “If only you would hide me in the grave^(AD)
    and conceal me till your anger has passed!^(AE)
If only you would set me a time
    and then remember^(AF) me!^(AG)
14 If someone dies, will they live again?
    All the days of my hard service^(AH)
    I will wait for my renewal^[b](AI) to come.
¹⁵ You will call and I will answer you;^(AJ)
    you will long for the creature your hands have made.^(AK)
16 Surely then you will count my steps^(AL)
    but not keep track of my sin.^(AM)
17 My offenses will be sealed^(AN) up in a bag;^(AO)
    you will cover over my sin.^(AP)

¹⁸ “But as a mountain erodes and crumbles^(AQ)
    and as a rock is moved from its place,^(AR)
19 as water wears away stones
    and torrents^(AS) wash away the soil,^(AT)
    so you destroy a person’s hope.^(AU)
20 You overpower them once for all, and they are gone;^(AV)
    you change their countenance and send them away.^(AW)
21 If their children are honored, they do not know it;
    if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.^(AX)
22 They feel but the pain of their own bodies^(AY)
    and mourn only for themselves.^(AZ)”

²⁵ “I, even I, am he who blots out
    your transgressions,^(A) for my own sake,^(B)
    and remembers your sins^(C) no more.^(D)