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³Is it good unto Thee that Thou shouldest oppress,

That Thou shouldest despise the work of Thy hands,

And shine upon the counsel of the wicked?

⁴Hast Thou eyes of flesh?

Or seest Thou as man seeth?

⁵Are Thy days as the days of man,

Or Thy years as a man's days,

⁶That Thou inquirest after mine iniquity,

And searchest after my sin,

⁷Although Thou knowest that I shall not be condemned;

And there is none that can deliver out of Thy hand?

⁸Thy hands have framed me and fashioned me

Together round about; yet Thou dost destroy me!

⁹Remember, I beseech Thee, that Thou hast fashioned me as clay;

And wilt Thou bring me into dust again?

¹⁰Hast Thou not poured me out as milk,

And curdled me like cheese?

¹¹Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh,

And knit me together with bones and sinews.

¹²Thou hast granted me life and favour,

And Thy providence hath preserved my spirit.

¹³Yet these things Thou didst hide in Thy heart;

I know that this is with Thee;

¹⁴If I sin, then Thou markest me,

And Thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.

¹⁵If I be wicked, woe unto me;

And if I be righteous, yet shall I not lift up my head—

Being filled with ignominy

And looking upon mine affliction.

¹⁶And if it exalt itself, Thou huntest me as a lion;

And again Thou showest Thyself marvellous upon me.

¹⁷Thou renewest Thy witnesses against me,

And increasest Thine indignation upon me;

Host succeeding host against me.

 

¹⁸Wherefore then hast Thou brought me forth out of the womb?

Would that I had perished, and no eye had seen me!

¹⁹I should have been as though I had not been;

I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.

²⁰Are not my days few? Cease then,

And let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,

²¹Before I go whence I shall not return,

Even to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death;

²²A land of thick darkness, as darkness itself;

A land of the shadow of death, without any order,

And where the light is as darkness.

11 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said:

²Should not the multitude of words be answered?

And should a man full of talk be accounted right?

³Thy boastings have made men hold their peace,

And thou hast mocked, with none to make thee ashamed;

⁴And thou hast said: 'My doctrine is pure, And I am clean in Thine eyes.'

⁵But oh that God would speak,

And open His lips against thee;

⁶And that He would tell thee the secrets of wisdom,

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