| New King James Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1“My soul loathes my life; I will give free course to my complaint, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. | 1“I loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul. |
| 2I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me; Show me why You contend with me. | 2I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me. |
| 3Does 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? | 3Does it please You to oppress me, to reject the work of Your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked? |
| 4Do You have eyes of flesh? Or do You see as man sees? | 4Do You have eyes of flesh? Do You see as man sees? |
| 5Are Your days like the days of a mortal man? Are Your years like the days of a mighty man, | 5Are Your days like those of a mortal, or Your years like those of a man, |
| 6That You should seek for my iniquity And search out my sin, | 6that You should seek my iniquity and search out my sin— |
| 7Although You know that I am not wicked, And there is no one who can deliver from Your hand? | 7though You know that I am not guilty, and there is no deliverance from Your hand? |
| 8‘Your hands have made me and fashioned me, An intricate unity; Yet You would destroy me. | 8Your hands shaped me and altogether formed me. Would You now turn and destroy me? |
| 9Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay. And will You turn me into dust again? | 9Please remember that You molded me like clay. Would You now return me to dust? |
| 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? |
| 11Clothe me with skin and flesh, And knit me together with bones and sinews? | 11You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. |
| 12You have granted me life and favor, And Your care has preserved my spirit. | 12You have granted me life and loving devotion, and Your care has preserved my spirit. |
| 13‘And these things You have hidden in Your heart; I know that this was with You: | 13Yet You concealed these things in Your heart, and I know that this was in Your mind: |
| 14If I sin, then You mark me, And will not acquit me of my iniquity. | 14If I sinned, You would take note, and would not acquit me of my iniquity. |
| 15If 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! | 15If I am guilty, woe to me! And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift my head. I am full of shame and aware of my affliction. |
| 16If my head is exalted, You hunt me like a fierce lion, And again You show Yourself awesome against me. | 16Should I hold my head high, You would hunt me like a lion, and again display Your power against me. |
| 17You renew Your witnesses against me, And increase Your indignation toward me; Changes and war are ever with me. | 17You produce new witnesses against me and multiply Your anger toward me. Hardships assault me in wave after wave. |
| 18‘Why then have You brought me out of the womb? Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me! | 18Why then did You bring me from the womb? Oh, that I had died, and no eye had seen me! |
| 19I would have been as though I had not been. I would have been carried from the womb to the grave. | 19If only I had never come to be, but had been carried from the womb to the grave. |
| 20Are not my days few? Cease! Leave me alone, that I may take a little comfort, | 20Are my days not few? Withdraw from me, that I may have a little comfort, |
| 21Before I go to the place from which I shall not return, To the land of darkness and the shadow of death, | 21before I go—never to return—to a land of darkness and gloom, |
| 22A land as dark as darkness itself, As the shadow of death, without any order, Where even the light is like darkness.’ ” | 22to a land of utter darkness, of deep shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.” |
|
