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Job Complains to God

I Am Sick of Life!

10 I am sick of life!
And from my deep despair,
    I complain to you, my God.
Don't just condemn me!
    Point out my sin.
Why do you take such delight
in destroying those you created
    and in smiling on sinners?
Do you look at things
    the way we humans do?
Is your life as short as ours?
Is that why you are so quick
    to find fault with me?
(A) You know I am innocent,
but who can defend me
    against you?
Will you now destroy
    someone you created?
Remember that you molded me
    like a piece of clay.
So don't turn me back
    into dust once again.
10 (B) As cheese is made from milk,
you created my body
    from a tiny drop.
11 Then you tied my bones together
with muscles and covered them
    with flesh and skin.
12 You, the source of my life,
showered me with kindness
    and watched over me.

You Have Not Explained

13 You have not explained
    all of your mysteries,
14 but you catch and punish me
    each time I sin.
15 Guilty or innocent,
I am condemned and ashamed
    because of my troubles.
16 No matter how hard I try,
you keep hunting me down
    like a powerful lion.[a]
17 You never stop accusing me;
you become furious and attack
    over and over again.

18 Why did you let me be born?
I would rather have died
    before birth
19 and been carried to the grave
    without ever breathing.
20 I have only a few days left.
Why don't you leave me alone?[b]
    Let me find some relief,
* 21 before I travel to the land
22 of darkness and despair,
    the place of no return.

Footnotes

  1. 10.16 lion: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 16.
  2. 10.20 I have only … alone: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

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