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)
Footnotes
- Job 10:15 Or and aware of
Cross references
- Job 10:1 : S Nu 11:15; S 1Ki 19:4
- Job 10:1 : S 1Sa 1:10; S Job 7:11; 9:18, 21
- Job 10:2 : Job 13:3; 40:1
- Job 10:2 : Isa 3:13; Hos 4:1; 5:1; 12:2; Mic 6:2; Ro 8:33
- Job 10:2 : S Job 9:3
- Job 10:3 : S Job 9:22; 16:9, 14; 19:6, 21; 22:10; 30:13, 21; 31:23; 34:6
- Job 10:3 : ver 8; Ge 1:26; S Job 4:17; 14:15; 34:19; Ps 8:6; 95:6; 100:3; 138:8; 149:2; Isa 60:21; 64:8
- Job 10:3 : S Job 9:24
- Job 10:4 : 1Sa 16:7; Job 11:11; 14:16; 24:23; 28:24; 31:4; 34:21; 41:11; Ps 11:4; 33:15; 119:168; 139:12; Pr 5:21; 15:3; Jer 11:20-23; 16:17
- Job 10:5 : Job 36:26; Ps 39:5; 90:2, 4; 102:24; 2Pe 3:8
- Job 10:6 : Job 14:16
- Job 10:7 : ver 15; S Job 6:29; 11:4; 16:17; 27:5, 6; 31:6; 32:1
- Job 10:7 : S Dt 32:39
- Job 10:8 : Ge 2:7
- Job 10:8 : S ver 3; S 2Sa 14:14; S Job 30:15
- Job 10:9 : S Job 4:19; Isa 29:16
- Job 10:9 : S Ge 2:7; S Job 7:21
- Job 10:11 : Ps 139:13, 15
- Job 10:12 : S Ge 2:7
- Job 10:12 : S Ge 24:12
- Job 10:12 : S Ge 45:5
- Job 10:12 : 1Pe 2:25
- Job 10:13 : Job 23:13; Ps 115:3
- Job 10:14 : Job 13:27
- Job 10:14 : S Ex 34:7; S Job 7:21
- Job 10:15 : S ver 7
- Job 10:15 : S Job 9:13
- Job 10:15 : S Job 9:15
- Job 10:15 : Ps 25:16
- Job 10:16 : S 1Sa 17:34; Ps 7:2; Isa 38:13; Jer 5:6; 25:38; La 3:10; Hos 5:14; 13:7
- Job 10:16 : Job 5:9; Isa 28:21; 29:14; 65:7
- Job 10:17 : 1Ki 21:10; Job 16:8
- Job 10:17 : Ru 1:21
- Job 10:17 : S Job 5:7
- Job 10:18 : S Job 3:8; S Ps 22:9
- Job 10:18 : Job 3:26; Ecc 4:2; 7:1
- Job 10:19 : S Job 3:3; Jer 15:10
- Job 10:20 : Job 14:1; Ecc 6:12
- Job 10:20 : S Job 7:7
- Job 10:20 : S Job 7:16
- Job 10:20 : S Job 9:25
- Job 10:21 : S 2Sa 12:23; S Job 3:13; 16:22; Ps 39:13; Ecc 12:5
- Job 10:21 : S Job 3:5
- Job 10:22 : S Job 3:5
- Job 10:22 : S 1Sa 2:9; S Job 3:13