"Why is light given to him who is in misery, And life to the bitter of soul,

Who rejoice exceedingly, [And] are glad when they can find the grave?

" Oh, that I might have my request, That God would grant [me] the thing that I long for!

That it would please God to crush me, That He would loose His hand and cut me off!

But He saves the needy from the sword, From the mouth of the mighty, And from their hand.

So the poor have hope, And injustice shuts her mouth.

In famine He shall redeem you from death, And in war from the power of the sword.

"I am blameless, yet I do not know myself; I despise my life.

" Oh, that You would hide me in the grave, That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past, That You would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

"If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now -- if I have found favor in Your sight -- and do not let me see my wretchedness!"

But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, "It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I [am] no better than my fathers!"

"Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for [it is] better for me to die than to live!"

And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah's head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, "[It is] better for me to die than to live."

" Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

And if indeed I have erred, My error remains with me.

"Listen carefully to my speech, And let this be your consolation.

"As for me, [is] my complaint against man? And if [it were,] why should I not be impatient?

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!

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

"Oh, that my grief were fully weighed, And my calamity laid with it on the scales!

For the arrows of the Almighty [are] within me; My spirit drinks in their poison; The terrors of God are arrayed against me.

" Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

" Though I speak, my grief is not relieved; And [if] I remain silent, how am I eased?

You have shriveled me up, And it is a witness [against me;] My leanness rises up against me [And] bears witness to my face.

They gape at me with their mouth, They strike me reproachfully on the cheek, They gather together against me.

I was at ease, but He has shattered me; He also has taken [me] by my neck, and shaken me to pieces; He has set me up for His target,

He breaks me with wound upon wound; He runs at me like a warrior.

My face is flushed from weeping, And on my eyelids [is] the shadow of death;

When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long.

I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

" What shall I say? He has both spoken to me, And He Himself has done [it.] I shall walk carefully all my years In the bitterness of my soul.

Indeed [it was] for [my own] peace [That] I had great bitterness; But You have lovingly [delivered] my soul from the pit of corruption, For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.