⁸ “‘You formed me with your hands; you made me,
    yet now you completely destroy me.
⁹ Remember that you made me from dust—
    will you turn me back to dust so soon?
¹⁰ You guided my conception
    and formed me in the womb.^[a]
11 You clothed me with skin and flesh,
    and you knit my bones and sinews together.
¹² You gave me life and showed me your unfailing love.
    My life was preserved by your care.

¹³ “‘Yet your real motive—
    your true intent—
¹⁴ was to watch me, and if I sinned,
    you would not forgive my guilt.
¹⁵ If I am guilty, too bad for me;
    and even if I’m innocent, I can’t hold my head high,
    because I am filled with shame and misery.
¹⁶ And if I hold my head high, you hunt me like a lion
    and display your awesome power against me.
¹⁷ Again and again you witness against me.
    You pour out your growing anger on me
    and bring fresh armies against me.

¹⁸ “‘Why, then, did you deliver me from my mother’s womb?
    Why didn’t you let me die at birth?
¹⁹ It would be as though I had never existed,
    going directly from the womb to the grave.
²⁰ I have only a few days left, so leave me alone,
    that I may have a moment of comfort
²¹ before I leave—never to return—
    for the land of darkness and utter gloom.
²² It is a land as dark as midnight,
    a land of gloom and confusion,
    where even the light is dark as midnight.’”

² “Yes, I know all this is true in principle.
    But how can a person be declared innocent in God’s sight?
³ If someone wanted to take God to court,^[a]
    would it be possible to answer him even once in a thousand times?
⁴ For God is so wise and so mighty.
    Who has ever challenged him successfully?

⁵ “Without warning, he moves the mountains,
    overturning them in his anger.
⁶ He shakes the earth from its place,
    and its foundations tremble.
⁷ If he commands it, the sun won’t rise
    and the stars won’t shine.
⁸ He alone has spread out the heavens
    and marches on the waves of the sea.
⁹ He made all the stars—the Bear and Orion,
    the Pleiades and the constellations of the southern sky.
¹⁰ He does great things too marvelous to understand.
    He performs countless miracles.

¹¹ “Yet when he comes near, I cannot see him.
    When he moves by, I do not see him go.
¹² If he snatches someone in death, who can stop him?
    Who dares to ask, ‘What are you doing?’
¹³ And God does not restrain his anger.
    Even the monsters of the sea^[b] are crushed beneath his feet.

¹⁴ “So who am I, that I should try to answer God
    or even reason with him?
¹⁵ Even if I were right, I would have no defense.
    I could only plead for mercy.
¹⁶ And even if I summoned him and he responded,
    I’m not sure he would listen to me.
¹⁷ For he attacks me with a storm
    and repeatedly wounds me without cause.
¹⁸ He will not let me catch my breath,
    but fills me instead with bitter sorrows.
¹⁹ If it’s a question of strength, he’s the strong one.
    If it’s a matter of justice, who dares to summon him^[c] to court?
²⁰ Though I am innocent, my own mouth would pronounce me guilty.
    Though I am blameless, it^[d] would prove me wicked.

²¹ “I am innocent,
    but it makes no difference to me—
    I despise my life.
²² Innocent or wicked, it is all the same to God.
    That’s why I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
²³ When a plague^[e] sweeps through,
    he laughs at the death of the innocent.
²⁴ The whole earth is in the hands of the wicked,
    and God blinds the eyes of the judges.
    If he’s not the one who does it, who is?

²⁵ “My life passes more swiftly than a runner.
    It flees away without a glimpse of happiness.
²⁶ It disappears like a swift papyrus boat,
    like an eagle swooping down on its prey.
²⁷ If I decided to forget my complaints,
    to put away my sad face and be cheerful,
²⁸ I would still dread all the pain,
    for I know you will not find me innocent, O God.
²⁹ Whatever happens, I will be found guilty.
    So what’s the use of trying?
³⁰ Even if I were to wash myself with soap
    and clean my hands with lye,
³¹ you would plunge me into a muddy ditch,
    and my own filthy clothing would hate me.

³² “God is not a mortal like me,
    so I cannot argue with him or take him to trial.
³³ If only there were a mediator between us,
    someone who could bring us together.
³⁴ The mediator could make God stop beating me,
    and I would no longer live in terror of his punishment.
³⁵ Then I could speak to him without fear,
    but I cannot do that in my own strength.

² “How long will you go on like this?
    You sound like a blustering wind.
³ Does God twist justice?
    Does the Almighty twist what is right?
⁴ Your children must have sinned against him,
    so their punishment was well deserved.
⁵ But if you pray to God
    and seek the favor of the Almighty,
⁶ and if you are pure and live with integrity,
    he will surely rise up and restore your happy home.
⁷ And though you started with little,
    you will end with much.

⁸ “Just ask the previous generation.
    Pay attention to the experience of our ancestors.
⁹ For we were born but yesterday and know nothing.
    Our days on earth are as fleeting as a shadow.
¹⁰ But those who came before us will teach you.
    They will teach you the wisdom of old.

¹¹ “Can papyrus reeds grow tall without a marsh?
    Can marsh grass flourish without water?
¹² While they are still flowering, not ready to be cut,
    they begin to wither more quickly than grass.
¹³ The same happens to all who forget God.
    The hopes of the godless evaporate.
¹⁴ Their confidence hangs by a thread.
    They are leaning on a spider’s web.
¹⁵ They cling to their home for security, but it won’t last.
    They try to hold it tight, but it will not endure.
¹⁶ The godless seem like a lush plant growing in the sunshine,
    its branches spreading across the garden.
¹⁷ Its roots grow down through a pile of stones;
    it takes hold on a bed of rocks.
¹⁸ But when it is uprooted,
    it’s as though it never existed!
¹⁹ That’s the end of its life,
    and others spring up from the earth to replace it.

²⁰ “But look, God will not reject a person of integrity,
    nor will he lend a hand to the wicked.
²¹ He will once again fill your mouth with laughter
    and your lips with shouts of joy.
²² Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
    and the home of the wicked will be destroyed.”

1 “Is not all human life a struggle?
    Our lives are like that of a hired hand,
² like a worker who longs for the shade,
    like a servant waiting to be paid.
³ I, too, have been assigned months of futility,
    long and weary nights of misery.
⁴ Lying in bed, I think, ‘When will it be morning?’
    But the night drags on, and I toss till dawn.
⁵ My body is covered with maggots and scabs.
    My skin breaks open, oozing with pus.

¹¹ “I cannot keep from speaking.
    I must express my anguish.
    My bitter soul must complain.
¹² Am I a sea monster or a dragon
    that you must place me under guard?
¹³ I think, ‘My bed will comfort me,
    and sleep will ease my misery,’
¹⁴ but then you shatter me with dreams
    and terrify me with visions.
¹⁵ I would rather be strangled—
    rather die than suffer like this.
¹⁶ I hate my life and don’t want to go on living.
    Oh, leave me alone for my few remaining days.

¹⁷ “What are people, that you should make so much of us,
    that you should think of us so often?
¹⁸ For you examine us every morning
    and test us every moment.
¹⁹ Why won’t you leave me alone,
    at least long enough for me to swallow!
²⁰ If I have sinned, what have I done to you,
    O watcher of all humanity?
Why make me your target?
    Am I a burden to you?^[b]
21 Why not just forgive my sin
    and take away my guilt?
For soon I will lie down in the dust and die.
    When you look for me, I will be gone.”