Study Desk

"^[a](a)I loathe my own life; I will give full vent to ^(b)my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

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

‘Is it ^[b]right for You indeed to ^(d)oppress, To reject ^(e)the labor of Your hands, And ^[c]to look favorably on ^(f)the schemes of the wicked?

‘Have You eyes of flesh? Or do You ^(g)see as a man sees?

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

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

‘According to Your knowledge ^(j)I am indeed not guilty, Yet there is ^(k)no deliverance from Your hand.

‘^(l)Your hands fashioned and made me ^[d]altogether, ^(m)And would You destroy me?

‘Remember now, that You have made me as ⁽ⁿ⁾clay; And would You ^(o)turn me into dust again?

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

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

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

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

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

‘If ^(t)I am wicked, woe to me! And ^(u)if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head. I am sated with disgrace and ^[e]conscious of my misery.

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

‘You renew ^(x)Your witnesses against me And increase Your anger toward me; ^[f](y)Hardship after hardship is with me.

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

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

"Would He not let ^(aa)my few days alone? ^[g](ab)Withdraw from me that I may have a little cheer

Before I go—^(ac)and I shall not return— ^(ad)To the land of darkness and ^(ae)deep shadow,

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