¹“My soul is weary of my life. I will give free course to my complaint. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

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

²I will tell God, ‘Do not condemn me. Show me why you contend with me.

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

³Is it good to you that you should oppress, that you should despise the work of your hands, and smile on the counsel of the wicked?

³He 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?

⁴Do you have eyes of flesh? Or do you see as man sees?

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

⁵Are your days as the days of mortals, or your years as man’s years,

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

⁶that you inquire after my iniquity, and search after my sin?

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

⁷Although you know that I am not wicked, there is no one who can deliver out of your hand.

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

⁸“‘Your hands have framed me and fashioned me altogether, yet you destroy me.

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

⁹Remember, I beg you, that you have fashioned me as clay. Will you bring me into dust again?

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

¹⁰Haven’t you poured me out like milk, and curdled me like cheese?

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

¹¹You have clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews.

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

¹²You have granted me life and loving kindness. Your visitation has preserved my spirit.

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

¹³Yet you hid these things in your heart. I know that this is with you:

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

¹⁴if I sin, then you mark me. You will not acquit me from my iniquity.

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

¹⁵If I am wicked, woe to me. If I am righteous, I still shall not lift up my head, being filled with disgrace, and conscious of my affliction.

¹⁵Ki 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.

¹⁶If my head is held high, you hunt me like a lion. Again you show yourself powerful to me.

¹⁶A 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.

¹⁷You renew your witnesses against me, and increase your indignation on me. Changes and warfare are with me.

¹⁷E 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.

¹⁸“‘Why, then, have you brought me forth out of the womb? I wish I had given up the spirit, and no eye had seen me.

¹⁸He 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.

¹⁹I should have been as though I had not been. I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.

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

²⁰Aren’t my days few? Cease then. Leave me alone, that I may find a little comfort,

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

²¹before I go where I shall not return from, to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death;

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

²²the land dark as midnight, of the shadow of death, without any order, where the light is as midnight.’”

²²Ki 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.