| New King James Version | English Standard Version |
| 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 life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will 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 contend against 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 seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the designs of the wicked? |
| 4Do You have eyes of flesh? Or do You see as man sees? | 4Have you 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 as the days of man, or your years as a man’s years, |
| 6That You should seek for my iniquity And search out my sin, | 6that you seek out my iniquity and search for my sin, |
| 7Although You know that I am not wicked, And there is no one who can deliver from Your hand? | 7although you know that I am not guilty, and there is none to deliver out of your hand? |
| 8‘Your hands have made me and fashioned me, An intricate unity; Yet You would destroy me. | 8Your hands fashioned and made me, and now you have destroyed me altogether. |
| 9Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay. And will You turn me into dust again? | 9Remember that you have made me like clay; and will you return me to the 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 steadfast love, 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 these things you hid in your heart; I know that this was your purpose. |
| 14If I sin, then You mark me, And will not acquit me of my iniquity. | 14If I sin, you watch me and do 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! If I am in the right, I cannot lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace and look on my affliction. |
| 16If my head is exalted, You hunt me like a fierce lion, And again You show Yourself awesome against me. | 16And were my head lifted up, you would hunt me like a lion and again work wonders against me. |
| 17You renew Your witnesses against me, And increase Your indignation toward me; Changes and war are ever with me. | 17You renew your witnesses against me and increase your vexation toward me; you bring fresh troops against me. |
| 18‘Why then have You brought me out of the womb? Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me! | 18“Why did you bring me out from the womb? Would that I had died before any 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. | 19and were as though I had not 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 not my days few? Then cease, and leave me alone, that I may find a little cheer |
| 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—and I shall not return— to the land of darkness and deep shadow, |
| 22A land as dark as darkness itself, As the shadow of death, without any order, Where even the light is like darkness.’ ” | 22the land of gloom like thick darkness, like deep shadow without any order, where light is as thick darkness.” |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
|
