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Job Despairs of God's Dealings

¹ "^(F1)(C1)I loathe my own life;
I will give full vent to ^(C2)my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

² "I will say to God, '^(C1)Do not condemn me;
Let me know why You contend with me.

³ 'Is it ^(F1)right for You indeed to ^(C1)oppress,
To reject ^(C2)the labor of Your hands,
And ^(F2)to look favorably on ^(C3)the schemes of the wicked?

⁴ 'Have You eyes of flesh?
Or do You ^(C1)see as a man sees?

⁵ 'Are Your days as the days of a mortal,
Or ^(C1)Your years as man's years,

⁶ That ^(C1)You should seek for my guilt
And search after my sin?

⁷ 'According to Your knowledge ^(C1)I am indeed not guilty,
Yet there is ^(C2)no deliverance from Your hand.

⁸ '^(C1)Your hands fashioned and made me ^(F1)altogether,
^(C2)And would You destroy me?

⁹ 'Remember now, that You have made me as ^(C1)clay;
And would You ^(C2)turn me into dust again?

¹⁰ 'Did You not pour me out like milk
And curdle me like cheese;

¹¹ Clothe me with skin and flesh,
And knit me together with bones and sinews?

¹² 'You have ^(C1)granted me life and lovingkindness;
And Your care has preserved my spirit.

¹³ 'Yet ^(C1)these things You have concealed in Your heart;
I know that this is within You:

¹⁴ If I sin, then You would ^(C1)take note of me,
And ^(C2)would not acquit me of my guilt.

¹⁵ 'If ^(C1)I am wicked, woe to me!
And ^(C2)if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head.
I am sated with disgrace and ^(F1)conscious of my misery.

¹⁶ 'Should my head be lifted up, ^(C1)You would hunt me like a lion;
And again You would show Your ^(C2)power against me.

¹⁷ 'You renew ^(C1)Your witnesses against me
And increase Your anger toward me;
^(F1)(C2)Hardship after hardship is with me.

¹⁸ '^(C1)Why then have You brought me out of the womb?
Would that I had died and no eye had seen me!

¹⁹ 'I should have been as though I had not been,
Carried from womb to tomb.'

²⁰ "Would He not let ^(C1)my few days alone?
^(F1)(C2)Withdraw from me that I may have a little cheer

²¹ Before I go--^(C1)and I shall not return--
^(C2)To the land of darkness and ^(C3)deep shadow,

²² The land of utter gloom as darkness itself,
Of deep shadow without order,
And which shines as the darkness."