Job Despairs of God’s Dealings

1
“I loathe my own life;
I will give full vent to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 2
“I will say to God, `Do not condemn me;
Let me know why You contend with me. 3
`Is it right for You indeed to oppress,
To reject the labor of Your hands,
And to look favorably on the schemes of the wicked? 4
`Have You eyes of flesh?
Or do You see as a man sees? 5
`Are Your days as the days of a mortal,
Or Your years as man’s years, 6
That You should seek for my guilt
And search after my sin? 7
`According to Your knowledge I am indeed not guilty,
Yet there is no deliverance from Your hand.

 8
`Your hands fashioned and made me altogether,
And would You destroy me? 9
`Remember now, that You have made me as clay;
And would You turn 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 granted me life and lovingkindness;
And Your care has preserved my spirit. 13
`Yet these things You have concealed in Your heart;
I know that this is within You: 14
If I sin, then You would take note of me,
And would not acquit me of my guilt. 15
`If I am wicked, woe to me!
And if 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, You would hunt me like a lion;
And again You would show Your power against me. 17
`You renew Your witnesses against me
And increase Your anger toward me;
Hardship after hardship is with me.

 18
`Why 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 my few days alone?
Withdraw from me that I may have a little cheer 21
Before I go–and I shall not return–
To the land of darkness and deep shadow, 22
The land of utter gloom as darkness {itself,}
Of deep shadow without order,
And which shines as the darkness.