| NET Bible | New International Version |
| 1"I am weary of my life; I will complain without restraint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. | 1"I loathe my very life; therefore I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul. |
| 2I will say to God, 'Do not condemn me; tell me why you are contending with me.' | 2I say to God: Do not declare me guilty, but tell me what charges you have against me. |
| 3Is it good for you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands, while you smile on the schemes of the wicked? | 3Does it please you to oppress me, to spurn the work of your hands, while you smile on the plans of the wicked? |
| 4"Do you have eyes of flesh, or do you see as a human being sees? | 4Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see as a mortal sees? |
| 5Are your days like the days of a mortal, or your years like the years of a mortal, | 5Are your days like those of a mortal or your years like those of a strong man, |
| 6that you must search out my iniquity, and inquire about my sin, | 6that you must search out my faults and probe after my sin-- |
| 7although you know that I am not guilty, and that there is no one who can deliver out of your hand? | 7though you know that I am not guilty and that no one can rescue me from your hand? |
| 8"Your hands have shaped me and made me, but now you destroy me completely. | 8"Your hands shaped me and made me. Will you now turn and destroy me? |
| 9Remember that you have made me as with the clay; will you return me to dust? | 9Remember that you molded me like clay. Will you now turn me to dust again? |
| 10Did you not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese? | 10Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese, |
| 11You clothed me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews. | 11clothe me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews? |
| 12You gave me life and favor, and your intervention watched over my spirit. | 12You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit. |
| 13"But these things you have concealed in your heart; I know that this is with you: | 13"But this is what you concealed in your heart, and I know that this was in your mind: |
| 14If I sinned, then you would watch me and you would not acquit me of my iniquity. | 14If I sinned, you would be watching me and would not let my offense go unpunished. |
| 15If I am guilty, woe to me, and if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head; I am full of shame, and satiated with my affliction. | 15If I am guilty--woe to me! Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head, for I am full of shame and drowned in my affliction. |
| 16If I lift myself up, you hunt me as a fierce lion, and again you display your power against me. | 16If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion and again display your awesome power against me. |
| 17You bring new witnesses against me, and increase your anger against me; relief troops come against me. | 17You bring new witnesses against me and increase your anger toward me; your forces come against me wave upon wave. |
| 18"Why then did you bring me out from the womb? I should have died and no eye would have seen me! | 18"Why then did you bring me out of the womb? I wish I had died before any eye saw me. |
| 19I should have been as though I had never existed; I should have been carried right from the womb to the grave! | 19If only I had never come into being, or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave! |
| 20Are not my days few? Cease, then, and leave me alone, that I may find a little comfort, | 20Are not my few days almost over? Turn away from me so I can have a moment's joy |
| 21before I depart, never to return, to the land of darkness and the deepest shadow, | 21before I go to the place of no return, to the land of gloom and utter darkness, |
| 22to the land of utter darkness, like the deepest darkness, and the deepest shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness." | 22to the land of deepest night, of utter darkness and disorder, where even the light is like darkness." |
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