| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 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 am disgusted with my life. Let me complain freely. My bitter soul must complain. |
| 2I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me; Show me why You contend with me. | 2I will say to God, ‘Don’t simply condemn me— tell me the charge you are bringing 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? | 3What do you gain by oppressing me? Why do you reject me, the work of your own hands, while smiling on the schemes of the wicked? |
| 4Do You have eyes of flesh? Or do You see as man sees? | 4Are your eyes like those of a human? Do you see things only as people see them? |
| 5Are Your days like the days of a mortal man? Are Your years like the days of a mighty man, | 5Is your lifetime only as long as ours? Is your life so short |
| 6That You should seek for my iniquity And search out my sin, | 6that you must quickly probe for my guilt 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 I am not guilty, no one can rescue me from your hands. |
| 8‘Your hands have made me and fashioned me, An intricate unity; Yet You would destroy me. | 8“‘You formed me with your hands; you made me, yet now you completely destroy me. |
| 9Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay. And will You turn me into dust again? | 9Remember that you made me from dust— will you turn me back to dust so soon? |
| 10Did You not pour me out like milk, And curdle me like cheese, | 10You guided my conception and formed me in the womb. |
| 11Clothe me with skin and flesh, And knit me together with bones and sinews? | 11You clothed me with skin and flesh, and you knit my bones and sinews together. |
| 12You have granted me life and favor, And Your care has preserved my spirit. | 12You gave me life and showed me your unfailing love. My life was preserved by your care. |
| 13‘And these things You have hidden in Your heart; I know that this was with You: | 13“‘Yet your real motive— your true intent— |
| 14If I sin, then You mark me, And will not acquit me of my iniquity. | 14was to watch me, and if I sinned, you would not forgive my guilt. |
| 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, 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. |
| 16If my head is exalted, You hunt me like a fierce lion, And again You show Yourself awesome against me. | 16And if I hold my head high, you hunt me like a lion and display your awesome power against me. |
| 17You renew Your witnesses against me, And increase Your indignation toward me; Changes and war are ever with me. | 17Again and again you witness against me. You pour out your growing anger on me and bring fresh armies 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, then, did you deliver me from my mother’s womb? Why didn’t you let me die at birth? |
| 19I would have been as though I had not been. I would have been carried from the womb to the grave. | 19It would be as though I had never existed, going directly from the womb to the grave. |
| 20Are not my days few? Cease! Leave me alone, that I may take a little comfort, | 20I have only a few days left, so leave me alone, that I may have a moment of 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 leave—never to return— for the land of darkness and utter gloom. |
| 22A land as dark as darkness itself, As the shadow of death, without any order, Where even the light is like darkness.’ ” | 22It is a land as dark as midnight, a land of gloom and confusion, where even the light is dark as midnight.’” |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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