<p class="poetry">My body<n id="1" /> is clothed<n id="2" /> with worms<n id="3" /> and dirty scabs;<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">my skin is broken<n id="5" /> and festering.p>

<p class="poetry">If I summoned him, and he answered me,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I would not believe<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">that he would be listening to my voice &#8211;p>

<p class="poetry">Although I am innocent,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">my mouth<n id="2" /> would condemn me;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">although I am blameless,p> <p class="poetry">it would declare me perverse.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">They glide by<n id="1" /> like reed<n id="2" /> boats,p> <p class="poetry">like an eagle that swoops<n id="3" /> down on its prey.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">If I say,<n id="1" /> &#8216;I will<n id="2" /> forget my complaint,p> <p class="poetry">I will change my expression<n id="3" /> and be cheerful,&#8217;<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Then<n id="1" /> would I speak and not fear him,p> <p class="poetry">but it is not so with me.<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;I<n id="1" /> am weary<n id="2" /> of my life;p> <p class="poetry">I will complain without restraint;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.p>

<p class="poetry">I will say to God, &#8216;Do not condemn<n id="1" /> me;p> <p class="poetry">tell me<n id="2" /> why you are contending<n id="3" /> with me.&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">although you know<n id="1" /> that I am not guilty,p> <p class="poetry">and that there is no one who can deliver<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">out of your hand?p>

<p class="poetry">You bring new witnesses<n id="1" /> against me,p> <p class="poetry">and increase your anger against me;p> <p class="poetry">relief troops<n id="2" /> come against me.p>

<p class="poetry">if<n id="1" /> iniquity is in your hand &#8211; put it far away,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and do not let evil reside in your tents.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;But now, ask the animals and they<n id="2" /> will teach you,p> <p class="poetry">or the birds of the sky and they will tell you.p>

<p class="poetry">If he holds back the waters, then they dry up;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">if he releases them,<n id="2" /> they destroy<n id="3" /> the land.p>

<p class="poetry">But man<n id="1" /> dies and is powerless;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">he expires &#8211; and where is he?<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">He does not expect<n id="1" /> to escape from darkness;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">he is marked for the sword;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">he lived in ruined towns<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and in houses where<n id="2" /> no one lives,p> <p class="poetry">where they are ready to crumble into heaps.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">But<n id="1" /> I would strengthen<n id="2" /> you with my words;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">comfort from my lips would bring<n id="4" /> you relief.p>

<p class="poetry">Because<n id="1" /> you have closed their<n id="2" /> minds to understanding,p> <p class="poetry">therefore you will not exalt them.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Fire resides in his tent;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">over his residence burning sulfur is scattered.p>

<p class="poetry">&#8216;Surely such is the residence<n id="1" /> of an evil man;p> <p class="poetry">and this is the place of one who has not known God.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="2" />p>