1 K ua hoha toku wairua ki toku ora; ka tukua e ahau taku tangi kia rere ana; ka korero ahau i te kikiwatanga o toku ngakau.

“My soul loathes my life; I will give free course to my complaint, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

2 K a mea ahau ki te Atua, Kaua ahau e whakahengia; whakakitea ki ahau te take i totohe ai koe ki ahau.

I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me; Show me why You contend with me.

3 H e mea pai ranei ki a koe kia tukino koe, kia whakahawea ki te mahi a ou ringa, a kia whiti tou marama ki te whakaaro o te hunga kino?

Does it seem good to You that You should oppress, That You should despise the work of Your hands, And smile on the counsel of the wicked?

4 H e kanohi kikokiko ranei ou? he penei ranei tau titiro me ta te tangata titiro?

Do You have eyes of flesh? Or do You see as man sees?

5 H e rite ranei ou ra ki o te tangata ra? He rite ranei ou tau ki o te tangata ra?

Are Your days like the days of a mortal man? Are Your years like the days of a mighty man,

6 I uiuia ai e koe toku kino, i rapua ai e koe toku hara?

That You should seek for my iniquity And search out my sin,

7 A hakoa e mohio ana ano koe ehara ahau i te mea he, kahore ano tetahi hei whakaora i roto i tou ringa?

Although You know that I am not wicked, And there is no one who can deliver from Your hand?

8 N a ou ringa ahau i mahi, i hanga, he mea hono marie i tetahi taha, i tetahi taha; otiia e whakangaromia ana ahau e koe.

‘Your hands have made me and fashioned me, An intricate unity; Yet You would destroy me.

9 K ia mahara ra, nau ahau i hanga, ano he paru; tera ranei koe e whakahoki ano i ahau ki te puehu?

Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay. And will You turn me into dust again?

10 H e teka ianei he mea riringi ahau nau ano he waiu, meinga ana ahau e koe kia tetepe ano he tiihi?

Did You not pour me out like milk, And curdle me like cheese,

11 N au ahau i whakakakahu ki te kiri, ki te kikokiko, a nau ano ahau i hohou ki te wheua, ki te uaua.

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

12 W hakawhiwhi ana ahau e koe ki te ora, ki te atawhai, a he tirotirohanga mai nau i mau ai toku wairua.

You have granted me life and favor, And Your care has preserved my spirit.

13 H eoi huna ana ano enei mea e koe i roto i tou ngakau: e mohio ana hoki ahau kei a koe ano tenei.

‘And these things You have hidden in Your heart; I know that this was with You:

14 K i te hara ahau, ka matauria e koe; e kore ano koe e whakakahore ki toku he.

If I sin, then You mark me, And will not acquit me of my iniquity.

15 K i te he ahau, aue toku mate: ki te tika ahau, e kore tonu e ara toku mahunga; he ki hoki noku i te whakama me te titiro iho ki toku mate.

If I am wicked, woe to me; Even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head. I am full of disgrace; See my misery!

16 A ki te whakarewa ake toku mahunga i a ia, ka whaia ahau e koe ano he raiona; a ka whakakite ano koe i a koe, i tou miharo, ki ahau.

If my head is exalted, You hunt me like a fierce lion, And again You show Yourself awesome against me.

17 E whakahoutia ana e koe au kaiwhakaatu i oku he, e whakanuia ana hoki e koe tou riri ki ahau; ko nga putanga ketanga ko te whawhai hei pehi i ahau.

You renew Your witnesses against me, And increase Your indignation toward me; Changes and war are ever with me.

18 H e aha ra ahau i whakaputaina mai ai e koe i roto i te kopu? te hemo noa atu ai ahau, a kihai tetahi kanohi i kite i ahau.

‘Why then have You brought me out of the womb? Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me!

19 P enei kua rite ahau, ano kua kahore noa iho; kua mauria atu ahau i te kopu ki te urupa.

I would have been as though I had not been. I would have been carried from the womb to the grave.

20 H e teka ranei he torutoru oku ra? Kati ra, waiho ake koa ahau, kia ahua makoha ana i tenei wa iti,

Are not my days few? Cease! Leave me alone, that I may take a little comfort,

21 K eiwha haere, ahau ki te wahi e kore nei ahau e hoki mai, ki te whenua o te pouri, o te atarangi o te mata;

Before I go to the place from which I shall not return, To the land of darkness and the shadow of death,

22 K i te whenua o te pouri kerekere, o te tino o te pouri; he whenua no te atarangi o te mate, kahore nei o reira tikanga, a ko tona marama, koia ano te pouri.

A land as dark as darkness itself, As the shadow of death, without any order, Where even the light is like darkness.’”