1 My soule is cut off though I liue: I wil leaue my complaint vpon my selfe, and wil speake in the bitternesse of my soule. 2 I will say vnto God, Condemne mee not: shew me, wherefore thou contendest with mee. 3 Thinkest thou it good to oppresse me, and to cast off the labour of thine handes, and to fauour the counsel of the wicked? 4 Hast thou carnall eyes? or doest thou see as man seeth? 5 Are thy dayes as mans dayes? or thy yeres, as the time of man, 6 That thou inquirest of mine iniquitie, and searchest out my sinne? 7 Thou knowest that I can not do wickedly: for none can deliuer me out of thine hand. 8 Thine handes haue made me, and fashioned mee wholy rounde about, and wilt thou destroy me? 9 Remember, I pray thee, that thou hast made me as the clay, and wilt thou bring me into dust againe? 10 Hast thou not powred me out as milke? and turned me to cruds like cheese? 11 Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and ioyned me together with bones and sinewes. 12 Thou hast giuen me life, and grace: and thy visitation hath preserued my spirit. 13 Though thou hast hid these things in thine heart, yet I knowe that it is so with thee. 14 If I haue sinned, then thou wilt streightly looke vnto me, and wilt not holde mee giltlesse of mine iniquitie. 15 If I haue done wickedly, wo vnto me: if I haue done righteously, I will not lift vp mine head, being full of confusion, because I see mine affliction. 16 But let it increase: hunt thou me as a lyon: returne and shew thy selfe marueilous vpon me. 17 Thou renuest thy plagues against me, and thou increasest thy wrath against me: changes and armies of sorowes are against me. 18 Wherfore then hast thou brought me out of the wombe? Oh that I had perished, and that none eye had seene me! 19 And that I were as I had not bene, but brought from the wombe to the graue! 20 Are not my dayes fewe? let him cease, and leaue off from me, that I may take a litle comfort, 21 Before I goe and shall not returne, euen to the land of darkenesse and shadow of death: 22 Into a land, I say, darke as darknes it selfe, and into the shadow of death, where is none order, but the light is there as darkenesse.
1 I am tired of living.
Listen to my bitter complaint.
2 Don't condemn me, God.
Tell me! What is the charge against me?
3 Is it right for you to be so cruel?
To despise what you yourself have made?
And then to smile on the schemes of wicked people?
4 Do you see things as we do?
5 Is your life as short as ours?
6 Then why do you track down all my sins
and hunt down every fault I have?
7 You know that I am not guilty,
that no one can save me from you.
8 Your hands formed and shaped me,
and now those same hands destroy me.
9 Remember that you made me from clay;
are you going to crush me back to dust?
10 You gave my father strength to beget me;
you made me grow in my mother's womb.
11 You formed my body with bones and sinews
and covered the bones with muscles and skin.
12 You have given me life and constant love,
and your care has kept me alive.
13 But now I know that all that time
you were secretly planning to harm me.
14 You were watching to see if I would sin,
so that you could refuse to forgive me.
15 As soon as I sin, I'm in trouble with you,
but when I do right, I get no credit.
I am miserable and covered with shame.
16 If I have any success at all,
you hunt me down like a lion;
to hurt me you even work miracles.
17 You always have some witness against me;
your anger toward me grows and grows;
you always plan some new attack.
18 Why, God, did you let me be born?
I should have died before anyone saw me.
19 To go from the womb straight to the grave
would have been as good as never existing.
20 Isn't my life almost over? Leave me alone!
Let me enjoy the time I have left.
21 I am going soon and will never come back—
going to a land that is dark and gloomy,
22 a land of darkness, shadows, and confusion,
where the light itself is darkness.