Clothe me with skin and flesh,
And knit me together with bones and sinews?

‘You have granted me life and lovingkindness;
And Your care has preserved my spirit.

If I sin, then You would take note of me,
And would not acquit me of my guilt.

‘You renew Your witnesses against me
And increase Your anger toward me;
Hardship after hardship is with me.

Before I go—and I shall not return—
To the land of darkness and deep shadow,

‘Yet these things You have concealed in Your heart;
I know that this is within You:

“Would He not let my few days alone?
Withdraw from me that I may have a little cheer

‘Why then have You brought me out of the womb?
Would that I had died and no eye had seen me!

‘If I am wicked, woe to me!
And if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head.
I am sated with disgrace and conscious of my misery.

“I loathe my own life;
I will give full vent to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

The land of utter gloom as darkness itself,
Of deep shadow without order,
And which shines as the darkness.”

“I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me;
Let me know why You contend with me.

‘I should have been as though I had not been,
Carried from womb to tomb.’

‘Did You not pour me out like milk
And curdle me like cheese;

‘Remember now, that You have made me as clay;
And would You turn me into dust again?

‘Is it right for You indeed to oppress,
To reject the labor of Your hands,
And to look favorably on the schemes of the wicked?

‘According to Your knowledge I am indeed not guilty,
Yet there is no deliverance from Your hand.

‘Have You eyes of flesh?
Or do You see as a man sees?

‘Are Your days as the days of a mortal,
Or Your years as man’s years,

That You should seek for my guilt
And search after my sin?

‘Your hands fashioned and made me altogether,
And would You destroy me?

‘Should my head be lifted up, You would hunt me like a lion;
And again You would show Your power against me.