1 » ¡Mi alma está hastiada de mi vida! Voy a dar libre curso a mi queja, hablaré con amargura de mi alma.

“I hate my life. I will be free in my complaining. I will show how bitter I am in my soul when I speak.

2 D iré a Dios: “No me condenes, sino hazme entender por qué contiendes conmigo.

I will say to God, ‘Do not say that I am guilty and punish me. Let me know why You work against me.

3 ¿ Te parece bien oprimirme, desechar la obra de tus manos y favorecer los designios de los impíos?

Do You think it is right for You to make it hard for me, to turn away from the work of Your hands and favor the plans of the sinful?

4 ¿ Acaso son de carne tus ojos? ¿Ves tú las cosas como las ve el hombre?

Do You have eyes of flesh? Do You see as a man sees?

5 ¿ Son tus días como los días del hombre, o tus años como el tiempo de los seres humanos,

Are Your days as the days of man, or Your years as man’s years,

6 p ara que estés al acecho de mi iniquidad y andes indagando tras mi pecado,

that You should look for my wrong-doing and my sin?

7 a un sabiendo que no soy impío y que nadie podría librarme de tu mano?

You know that I am not guilty, yet there is no one who can take me away from Your hand.

8 T us manos me hicieron y me formaron, ¿y luego te vuelves y me deshaces?

‘Your hands put me together and made me, and now would You destroy me?

9 A cuérdate de que como a barro me diste forma, ¿y en polvo me has de volver?

Remember that You have made me as clay. Would You turn me into dust again?

10 ¿ No me vertiste como leche, y como queso me cuajaste?

Did You not pour me out like milk and make me become hard like cheese?

11 M e vestiste de piel y carne, me tejiste con huesos y nervios,

You have given me clothing of skin and flesh, and have tied me together with bones and cord.

12 m e concediste vida y misericordia, y tu cuidado ha guardado mi espíritu.

You have given me life and loving-kindness. Your care has kept my spirit alive.

13 P ero tú ocultas algo en tu corazón, y yo sé que lo tienes presente:

Yet You have hidden these things in Your heart. I know that this is in Your thoughts.

14 o bservar si yo pecaba, y no tenerme por limpio de mi iniquidad.

If I sin, You would see me, and would not free me from my guilt.

15 S i soy malo, ¡ay de mí!, y si soy justo, no levantaré la cabeza, hastiado cual estoy de deshonra y de verme afligido.

If I am sinful, it would be bad for me! If I am right and good, I cannot lift my head for I am filled with shame and see all my trouble.

16 S i alzo la cabeza, como un león, me das caza y haces contra mí maravillas.

If I would lift up my head, You would hunt me like a lion. Again You would show Your power against me.

17 R enuevas tus pruebas contra mí, y contra mí aumentas tu furor como tropas de relevo.

You would send new ones who would speak against me, and become more angry with me. You would send me more and more trouble.

18 » ”¿Por qué me sacaste de la matriz? Habría expirado y nadie me habría visto.

‘Why then did You let me be born? If only I had died and no one had seen me!

19 S ería como si nunca hubiera existido, llevado del vientre a la sepultura.

I should have been as if I had never lived, carried from my mother to the grave.’

20 ¿ No son pocos mis días? ¡Déjame, pues! Apártate de mí, para que pueda consolarme un poco

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

21 a ntes que vaya para no volver, a la tierra de las tinieblas y la sombra de muerte,

before I go to a place from which I will not return. I will go to the land of darkness and shadow.

22 a la tierra de la oscuridad y el desorden, lóbrega como sombra de muerte, donde la luz es como densas tinieblas.”»

It is the land of complete darkness and shadow and trouble, where the light is darkness.”