Job’s Plea to God 1 WBS My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. BSB BSB: “I loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 WBS I will say to God, Do not condemn me; show me why thou contendest with me. BSB BSB: I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me.
3 WBS Is it good to thee that thou shouldst oppress, that thou shouldst despise the work of thy hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?BSB BSB: Does it please You to oppress me, to reject the work of Your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked?
4 WBS Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth? BSB BSB: Do You have eyes of flesh? Do You see as man sees?
5 WBS Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man's days,BSB BSB: Are Your days like those of a mortal, or Your years like those of a man,
6 WBS That thou inquirest after my iniquity, and searchest after my sin? BSB BSB: that You should seek my iniquity and search out my sin—
7 WBS Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thy hand. BSB BSB: though You know that I am not guilty, and there is no deliverance from Your hand?
8 WBS Thy hands have made me and fashioned me in all my parts; yet thou dost destroy me. BSB BSB: Your hands shaped me and altogether formed me. Would You now turn and destroy me?
9 WBS Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again? BSB BSB: Please remember that You molded me like clay. Would You now return me to dust?
10 WBS Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese? BSB BSB: Did You not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese?
11 WBS Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews. BSB BSB: You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 WBS Thou hast granted me life and favor, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit. BSB BSB: You have granted me life and loving devotion, and Your care has preserved my spirit.
13 WBS And these things hast thou hid in thy heart: I know that this is with thee. BSB BSB: Yet You concealed these things in Your heart, and I know that this was in Your mind:
14 WBS If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from my iniquity. BSB BSB: If I sinned, You would take note, and would not acquit me of my iniquity.
15 WBS If I be wicked, woe to me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou my affliction; BSB BSB: If I am guilty, woe to me! And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift my head. I am full of shame and aware of my affliction.
16 WBS For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou showest thyself wonderful upon me. BSB BSB: Should I hold my head high, You would hunt me like a lion, and again display Your power against me.
17 WBS Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thy indignation upon me; changes and war are against me. BSB BSB: You produce new witnesses against me and multiply Your anger toward me. Hardships assault me in wave after wave.
18 WBS Why then hast thou brought me forth from the womb? O that I had expired, and no eye had seen me! BSB BSB: Why then did You bring me from the womb? Oh, that I had died, and no eye had seen me!
19 WBS I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave. BSB BSB: If only I had never come to be, but had been carried from the womb to the grave.
20 WBS Are not my days few? cease then , and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,BSB BSB: Are my days not few? Withdraw from me, that I may have a little comfort,
21 WBS Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness, and the shades of death; BSB BSB: before I go—never to return—to a land of darkness and gloom,
22 WBS A land of darkness, as darkness itself ; and of the shades of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness. BSB BSB: to a land of utter darkness, of deep shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.