Read the Bible

¹ "My inner self^[a] loathes my life;
I want to give vent to my complaint;^[b]
I want to speak out of the bitterness of my inner self.^[c]
2 I will say to God, ‘You should not condemn me;
let me know why you contend against me.
³ Is it good for you that you oppress,
that you despise the labor of your hands,
and you smile over the schemes of the wicked?
⁴ Do you have eyes of flesh?^[d]
Or do you see as human beings see?^[e]
5 Are your days as the days of human beings,
or your years as the days of man,
⁶ that you seek out my iniquity,
and you search for my sin
⁷ because of your knowledge that I am not guilty,
and there is no escaping from your hand?
⁸ Your hands fashioned me and made me^[f] altogether,^[g]
then^[h] you destroyed me.
⁹ Please^[i] remember that you made me like clay,
but^[j] you turn me into dust again?
¹⁰ Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me^[k] like cheese?
¹¹ You clothed me with skin and flesh,
and you knit me together with bones and sinews.
¹² You have granted me life and loyal love,
and your care has preserved my spirit.
¹³ "‘Yet^[l] you hid these things in your heart;
I know that this was your purpose.^[m]
14 If I had sinned, then^[n] you would be watching me,
and you would not acquit me of my guilt.
¹⁵ If I am guilty, woe to me!
But^[o] if I am righteous, I dare not lift my head;
I am filled with shame, and just look at my misery!
¹⁶ And if my head grows bold, you would hunt me as the lion in its prime;
and you repeat your exploits against me.^[p]
17 You renew your witnesses against me,
and you increase your vexation against me;
relief forces^[q] are against me.
¹⁸ So^[r] why did you bring me forth from the womb?
I should have passed away, and no eye should have seen me.^[s]
19 I should have been as though I had not been;
I should have been brought from the womb to the grave.
²⁰ Are not my days few? Let him leave me alone;
let him turn from me, and let me rejoice a little.
²¹ Before I go—and I will not return—
to the land of darkness and deep shadow,
²² to the land of darkness,
like the darkness of a deep shadow and chaos,^[t]
so that^[u] it shines forth like darkness.'"