1 "aI loathe my own life; I will give full vent to bmy complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 2 "I will say to God, 'aDo not condemn me; Let me know why You contend with me. 3 'Is it right for You indeed to aoppress, To reject bthe labor of Your hands, And to look favorably on cthe schemes of the wicked? 4 'Have You eyes of flesh? Or do You asee as a man sees? 5 'Are Your days as the days of a mortal, Or aYour years as man's years, 6 That aYou should seek for my guilt And search after my sin? 7 'According to Your knowledge aI am indeed not guilty, Yet there is bno deliverance from Your hand. 8 'aYour hands fashioned and made me altogether, bAnd would You destroy me? 9 'Remember now, that You have made me as aclay; And would You bturn me into dust again? 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 with bones and sinews? 12 'You have agranted me life and lovingkindness; And Your care has preserved my spirit. 13 'Yet athese things You have concealed in Your heart; I know that this is within You: 14 If I sin, then You would atake note of me, And bwould not acquit me of my guilt. 15 'If aI am wicked, woe to me! And bif I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head. I am sated with disgrace and conscious of my misery. 16 'Should my head be lifted up, aYou would hunt me like a lion; And again You would show Your bpower against me. 17 'You renew aYour witnesses against me And increase Your anger toward me; bHardship after hardship is with me. 18 'aWhy then have You brought me out of the womb? Would that I had died and no eye had seen me! 19 'I should have been as though I had not been, Carried from womb to tomb.' 20 "Would He not let amy few days alone? bWithdraw from me that I may have a little cheer 21 Before I go--aand I shall not return-- bTo the land of darkness and cdeep shadow, 22 The land of utter gloom as darkness itself, Of deep shadow without order, And which shines as the darkness."