1 My soul {nafshi: inner life} loathes my life {bechayyai: entire earthly span}; I will let my complaint rest upon myself; I will speak from the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God {Eloah, Patient Listener}, “Do not declare me guilty; make me know for what You contend with me {teriveni: bring legal case}.”
3 Is it good for You {Elohim, Questioned Judge} that You oppress, that You despise the labor of Your hands {yegia kappeka: work shaped by Your hands}, and shine favor upon the counsel of the wicked?
4 Do You have the eyes of flesh {basar: mortal body}, or do You see as a man {enosh: frail human} sees?
5 Are Your {Eloah, Timeless One} days like the days of a mortal {enosh: frail human}, or Your years like the days of a strong man?
6 For You {Eloah, My Accuser} pursue my iniquity {avon: culpable distortion}, and You investigate my sin.
7 By Your knowledge {daat: flawless perception} You know that I am not wicked {ersha: morally wrong}, and there is no deliverer from Your hand.
8 Your hands shaped me and made me together {yachad: as one complete being} all around; yet You would swallow {vattevalleʿeni: engulfing act} me up.
9 Remember, please, that as clay You {Divine Maker} have made me; and to dust {afar: symbolic of mortality} You will return me.
10 Is it not that You {Elohim, Skillful Former} poured me out like milk, and curdled me like cheese {gevinah: ancient coagulated dairy}?
11 You {Elohim, Wise Former} clothed me with skin and flesh, and You knit me together with bones and sinews {gidim: binding tendons}.
12 You {Eloah, Life-Giving Benefactor} have granted me life and kindness, and Your oversight has safeguarded my spirit {ruach: personal inner life}.
13 Yet these things You have concealed {tsafan: deliberately hidden away} in Your heart {levav: deep inner purpose}; I have known that this was with You.
14 If I sinned {chatati: committed serious wrong}, You watched me, and from my iniquity {avon: deeply rooted guilt} You will not acquit me.
15 If I have acted wickedly, woe {allai: intense lament cry} to me! And if I have been righteous, I will not lift up my head, for I am full of shame {kalon: public humiliation} and see my affliction.
16 And if it rises high, like a lion You {Relentless Hunter} hunt me; and again You display Yourself marvelously {titpalla: extraordinary self-display} against me.
17 You {Divine Opponent, perceived} renew Your witnesses against me, and You increase Your anger {kaas: intense wrath} toward me; successions and a force are with me.
18 And why did You {Eloah, Sovereign Former} bring me out from the womb {rechem: hidden origin}? I would have died, and no eye would have seen me.
19 As though I had not been {hayiti: actual existence}, I would have been carried from the womb to the grave {kever: place of burial}.
20 Are not my days {yamai: short remaining lifetime} few? Cease, and turn from me, so that I may find a little comfort {avliga: experience relief}.
21 Before I go {elekh: begin final journey} and do not return to the land of darkness and the shadow of death {tsalmawet: deepest gloom}.
22 A land of deepest gloom {eifatah: heavy, suffocating darkness}, like darkness, a shadow of death, without order {sedarim: structured patterns}, and where it shines, it is like darkness.