Study Desk

Then I would say what is in my mind without fear of him; for there is no cause of fear in myself.

And that if there was cause for pride, you would go after me like a lion; and again put out your wonders against me:

Why then did you make me come out of my mother's body? It would have been better for me to have taken my last breath, and for no eye to have seen me,

And for me to have been as if I had not been; to have been taken from my mother's body straight to my last resting-place.

They are higher than heaven; what is there for you to do? deeper than the underworld, and outside your knowledge;

For in his eyes men are as nothing; he sees evil and takes note of it.

For your sorrow will go from your memory, like waters flowing away:

In the thought of him who is in comfort there is no respect for one who is in trouble; such is the fate of those whose feet are slipping.

Will you have respect for God's person in this cause, and put yourselves forward as his supporters?

Will it be good for you to be searched out by him, or have you the thought that he may be guided into error like a man?

He will certainly put you right, if you have respect for persons in secret.

And that will be my salvation, for an evil-doer would not come before him,

Then at the sound of your voice I will give answer; or let me put forward my cause for you to give me an answer.

For you put bitter things on record against me, and send punishment on me for the sins of my early years;

And you put chains on my feet, watching all my ways, and making a limit for my steps;

Though a man comes to nothing like a bit of dead wood, or like a robe which has become food for the worm.

As for man, the son of woman, his days are short and full of trouble.

Let your eyes be turned away from him, and take your hand from him, so that he may have pleasure at the end of his day, like a servant working for payment.

For there is hope of a tree; if it is cut down, it will come to life again, and its branches will not come to an end.

If death takes a man, will he come to life again? All the days of my trouble I would be waiting, till the time came for me to be free.