2
I will say to God, 'Do not condemn me; Show me why You contend with me.
3
Does it seem good to You that You should oppress, That You should despise the work of Your hands, And smile on the counsel of the wicked?
4
Do You have eyes of flesh? Or do You see as man sees?
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Are Your days like the days of a mortal man? Are Your years like the days of a mighty man,
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That You should seek for my iniquity And search out my sin,
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Although You know that I am not wicked, And there is no one who can deliver from Your hand?
8
'Your hands have made me and fashioned me, An intricate unity; Yet You would destroy me.
9
Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay. And will You turn me into dust again?
10
Did you not pour me out like milk, And curdle me like cheese,
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Clothe me with skin and flesh, And knit me together with bones and sinews?
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You have granted me life and favor, And Your care has preserved my spirit.
13
'And these things You have hidden in Your heart; I know that this was with You:
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If I sin, then You mark me, And will not acquit me of my iniquity.
15
If I am wicked, woe to me; Even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head. I am full of disgrace; See my misery!
16
If my head is exalted, You hunt me like a fierce lion, And again You show Yourself awesome against me.
17
You renew Your witnesses against me, And increase Your indignation toward me; Changes and war are ever with me.
18
'Why then have You brought me out of the womb? Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me!
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I would have been as though I had not been. I would have been carried from the womb to the grave.
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Are not my days few? Cease! Leave me alone, that I may take a little comfort,
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Before I go to the place from which I shall not return, To the land of darkness and the shadow of death,
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A land as dark as darkness itself, As the shadow of death, without any order, Where even the light is like darkness.' "