Job
Chapter 10
Job answers God directly, saying he is sick of his life and will speak out of his bitterness. He asks God to explain the charges against him, and points out that God is the one who made him, shaping him like clay and knitting him together. He says God watches every step he takes, so that whether he is guilty or innocent he cannot win. He ends by wishing he had died at birth, and asks God to leave him alone for a little while before he goes to the land of darkness.
Plain reading written for preteens. Clear and complete, at about a fifth grade reading level.
My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
1I am sick of my own life. So I will let my complaint pour out. I will speak from my bitter heart.
2I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.
2I will say to God: Do not judge me guilty. Tell me why you are bringing charges against me.
3Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?
3Does it make you glad to crush me, and to throw away what your own hands made, while you smile on the plans of wicked people?
4Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?
4Do you have human eyes? Do you see things the way people see them?
5Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man’s days,
5Are your days as short as a person's days? Are your years as short as a man's years?
6That thou enquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin?
6Is that why you keep hunting for something wrong in me, and searching out my sin?
7Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand.
7You already know that I am not guilty. And no one can pull anyone out of your hand.
8Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me.
8Your hands shaped me and made every part of me. And now you are destroying me.
9Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?
9Please remember that you molded me like clay. Will you turn me back into dust again?
10Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?
10Did you not pour me out like milk, and thicken me like cheese?
11Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews.
11You dressed me in skin and flesh. You wove me together with bones and muscles.
12Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.
12You gave me life and faithful love. Your care kept me breathing.
The KJV word "visitation" here does not mean a visit. It means God's ongoing watching over and care.
13And these things hast thou hid in thine heart: I know that this is with thee.
13But all along you were hiding these plans in your heart. I know this is what you had in mind:
14If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.
14If I sinned, you would be watching. You would not let my wrong go unpunished.
15If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;
15If I am guilty, things go badly for me. But even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head. I am full of shame. So look at how much I suffer.
"I am full of confusion" in the KJV does not mean Job's thinking is muddled. It means he is full of shame and disgrace.
16For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me.
16And it only grows worse. You hunt me like a fierce lion. Again and again you show your terrible power against me.
17Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thine indignation upon me; changes and war are against me.
17You bring in new witnesses to speak against me. Your anger toward me grows. Trouble hits me wave after wave.
18Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!
18So why did you ever bring me out of my mother's body? I wish I had died before any eye saw me.
"Given up the ghost" is old English for died.
19I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.
19Then it would be as if I had never existed. I would have gone straight from the womb to the grave.
20Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,
20Are my days not few already? Then stop. Leave me alone, so I can have a little comfort,
21Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;
21before I go to the place no one comes back from, a land of darkness and deep shadow;
22A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.
22a land as black as night, full of deep shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.
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