נָקְטָה נַפְשִׁי בְּחַיָּי אֶעֶזְבָה עָלַי שִׂיחִי אֲדַבְּרָה בְּמַר נַפְשִׁי

My soul is sick of my life; I will allow myself complaint. I will give free rein to my complaint. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

אֹמַר אֶל־אֱלוֹהַּ אַל־תַּרְשִׁיעֵנִי הוֹדִיעֵנִי עַל מַה־תְּרִיבֵנִי

I will say to God: Do not condemn and punish me; let me know why You contend with me. I want to know of what crime I am accused.

הֲטוֹב לְךָ כִּי־תַעֲשֹׁק כִּי־תִמְאַס יְגִיעַ כַּפֶּיךָ וְעַל־עֲצַת רְשָׁעִים הוֹפָעְתָּ

Is it good for You that You should exploit me and treat me unjustly, that You should despise Your handiwork? You invested effort in me; why, then, do You loathe me and at the same time appear to aid in the counsel of the wicked, who continue to live in tranquility?

הַעֵינֵי בָשָׂר לָךְ אִם־כִּרְאוֹת אֱנוֹשׁ תִּרְאֶה

Do You have eyes of flesh; do You see as man sees? You know what is hidden in the hearts of men, and You are aware of the deeds they perform in secret, as well as the larger picture of world events. If so, why do You exchange the fates of the innocent with that of the wicked?

הֲכִימֵי אֱנוֹשׁ יָמֶיךָ אִם־שְׁנוֹתֶיךָ כִּימֵי גָבֶר

Man, with his limited vision, is sometimes swayed by foreign considerations and interests that stem from his concerns and worries as a mortal. The nature of man’s plans and his urge to actualize them swiftly are motivated by his knowledge that his life will soon end. This is not true of God: Are Your days like the days of a mortal? Are Your years like the days of a man,

כִּי־תְבַקֵּשׁ לַעֲוֹנִי וּלְחַטָּאתִי תִדְרוֹשׁ

that You seek my iniquity and search for my sin? In comparison to Your eternal existence, none of these have any value. Why, then, do You plot against me by amassing proofs against me? Aren’t You beyond all such considerations,

עַל־דַּעְתְּךָ כִּי־לֹא אֶרְשָׁע וְאֵין מִיָּדְךָ מַצִּיל

even though You know that I would not sin, that I cannot commit a crime against You, and that even if I did do so, there is no deliverer from Your hand? If I did sin, I will not be saved.

יָדֶיךָ עִצְּבוּנִי וַיַּעֲשׂוּנִי יַחַד סָבִיב וַתְּבַלְּעֵנִי

Furthermore, Your hands shaped me and fashioned me, enveloped me together on all sides, and yet with those same hands that surround me, You have ruined Your creation, as You destroy me from all sides.

זְכָר־נָא כִּי כחֹמֶר עֲשִׂיתָנִי וְאֶל־עָפָר תְּשִׁיבֵנִי

Please, remember that You have fashioned me like one kneads and shapes clay, and ultimately to dust You will return me. The description of the creation of the first man from the earth can be metaphorically applied to all people.

הֲלֹא כֶחָלָב תַּתִּיכֵנִי וְכַגְּבִינָה תַּקְפִּיאֵנִי

Truly, You have liquefied me like milk, as the process of my formation in the womb involved the transformation of solids into liquids, and curdled me like cheese. Likewise, certain liquids solidified during my creation, similar to the cheese-making process.

עוֹר וּבָשָׂר תַּלְבִּישֵׁנִי וּבַעֲצָמוֹת וְגִידִים תְּשֹׂכְכֵנִי

You clothed me with skin and flesh when You created me, and You covered me with bones and sinews.

חַיִּים וָחֶסֶד עָשִׂיתָ עִמָּדִי ופְקֻדָּתְךָ שָׁמְרָה רוּחִי

Throughout, You granted me life and grace, and Your command preserved my spirit.

וְאֵלֶּה צָפַנְתָּ בִלְבָבֶךָ יָדַעְתִּי כִּי־זֹאת עִמָּךְ

Yet all these matters You concealed in Your heart. You are intimately familiar with every secret detail of my creation and my life. I know that all this is with You. A similar idea, in a different context and style, is found in Psalms 139.

אִם־חָטָאתִי וּשְׁמַרְתָּנִי וּמֵעֲוֹנִי לֹא תְנַקֵּנִי

If I sin, You detain me. You are aware of it and do not turn a blind eye to my transgression, and You do not cleanse me of my iniquity.

אִם־רָשַׁעְתִּי אַלְלַי לִי וְצָדַקְתִּי לֹא־אֶשָּׂא רֹאשִׁי שְׂבַע קָלוֹן וּרְאֵה עָנְיִי

If I am wicked, woe is me, and yet even if I am righteous, I will not lift up my head; I am sated with shame and I see my disgrace, since in any case You will be dissatisfied with me.

וְיִגְאֶה כַּשַּׁחַל תְּצוּדֵנִי וְתָשֹׁב תִּתְפַּלָּא בִי

It, my poverty and disgrace, will be lifted up, will increase,when You will hunt me like one hunts a lion and intensify Your blows upon me again.

תְּחַדֵּשׁ עֵדֶיךָ נֶגְדִּי וְתֶרֶב כַּעַשְׂךָ עִמָּדִי חֲלִיפוֹת וְצָבָא עִמִּי

You will renew gathering Your witnesses against me, and Your anger with me will increase; it transforms, but it is constantly with me. My afflictions are constantly changing form, but they each strike me at fixed times. Alternatively, a mass of afflictions strike me.

וְלָמָּה מֵרֶחֶם הֹצֵאתָנִי אֶגְוַע וְעַיִן לֹא־תִרְאֵנִי

Why did You take me out from the womb? It would have been better for me not to have been born. I would have expired quietly in the womb as a stillborn, and no eye would have seen me.

כַּאֲשֶׁר לֹא־הָיִיתִי אֶהְיֶה מִבֶּטֶן לַקֶּבֶר אוּבָל

I would have been as one who had not been; I would have been a stillborn, carried straight from the womb to the grave. This would have been preferable to all the suffering I experienced throughout my life.

הֲלֹא־מְעַט יָמַי וַחֲדָל וְשִׁית מִמֶּנִּי וְאַבְלִיגָה מְּעָט

Aren’t my days few? Cease and let me be, and I will compose myself, or rest, a little

בְּטֶרֶם אֵלֵךְ וְלֹא אָשׁוּב אֶל־אֶרֶץ חֹשֶׁךְ וְצַלְמָוֶת

before I go, not to return, to the land of darkness and the shadow of death, to the provinces of death and the netherworld,

אֶרֶץ עֵפָתָה כְּמוֹ אֹפֶל צַלְמָוֶת וְלֹא סְדָרִים וַתֹּפַע כְּמוֹ־אֹפֶל

a land of thick and amplified darkness, like blackness, the shadow of death and disarray, as Gehenna is characterized by a lack of structure or stability, looking like blackness. Even the light that shines in that place is dark.