10
1 “I hate my own life, so I will complain freely.
I am very bitter, so now I will speak.
2 I will say to God, ‘Don’t just say I am guilty!
Tell me what you have against me.
3 Do you enjoy hurting me?
Do you enjoy ignoring me while smiling at what evil people say?
4 Do you have human eyes?
Do you see things the way people do?
5 Is your life as short as ours?
Is your life as short as a man’s life?
6 You look for my wrong
and search for my sin.
7 You know I am innocent,
but no one can save me from your power!
8 Your hands made me and shaped my body.
But now they are closing around me and squeezing me to death!
9 Remember, you molded me like clay.
Will you turn me into clay again?
10 You poured me out like milk.
You spun me around and squeezed me like someone making cheese.
11 You put me together with bones and muscles,
and then you clothed me with skin and flesh.
12 You gave me life and were very kind to me.
You cared for me and watched over my spirit.
13 But this is what you hid in your heart.
Now I know what you were planning for me.
14 If I sinned, you would be watching me
so that you could punish me for doing wrong.
15 If I sin, I am guilty
and should be cursed.
But even when I am innocent,
I cannot lift up my head.
I am so ashamed
because of all the troubles I have.
16 If I have any success and feel proud,
you hunt me down like a lion
and show your power over me.
17 You bring witness after witness
to prove that I am wrong.
Again and again you show your anger
as you send army after army against me.
18 So why did you let me be born?
I wish I had died before anyone saw me.
19 I wish I had never lived.
I wish they had carried me from my mother’s womb straight to the grave.
20 My life is almost finished.
So leave me alone!
Let me enjoy the little time I have left.
21 I am going soon to the land of no return,
the place of death and darkness—
22 that land of darkest night, of shadows and confusion,
where even the light is darkness.’ ”