Job 10

King James Version

Full text for Job Chapter 10

1¶ My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

2I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.

3[Is it] good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?

4Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?

5[Are] thy days as the days of man? [are] thy years as man's days,

6That thou enquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin?

7Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and [there is] none that can deliver out of thine hand.

8¶ Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me.

9Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?

10Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?

11Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews.

12Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.

13And these [things] hast thou hid in thine heart: I know that this [is] with thee.

14¶ If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.

15If I be wicked, woe unto me; and [if] I be righteous, [yet] will I not lift up my head. [I am] full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;

16For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me.

17Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thine indignation upon me; changes and war [are] against me.

18Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!

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

20[Are] not my days few? cease [then, and] let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,

21Before I go [whence] I shall not return, [even] to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;

22A land of darkness, as darkness [itself; and] of the shadow of death, without any order, and [where] the light [is] as darkness.

AI Analysis

AI Summaries

Short Summary

Job, weary of life, bitterly questions God, asking why he is condemned and contending with his Creator. He challenges God's justice, lamenting that the hands that fashioned him now seem to destroy him. Overwhelmed by relentless affliction, Job expresses a profound wish for death and a brief respite before his inevitable descent into the land of darkness.

Medium Summary

Job begins by expressing profound weariness with life and a bitter complaint, directly addressing God. He implores God not to condemn him and to reveal the reason for His contention, questioning if it pleases the Almighty to oppress His own creation. Job challenges God's perception, asking if He sees and acts with human limitations, needing to search for sin in a finite manner. He reminds God that He meticulously formed him, yet now appears intent on his destruction, despite having granted him life and favor. Job feels trapped, believing that whether he is wicked or righteous, he cannot escape God's relentless affliction, which he describes as a fierce lion hunting him. Overwhelmed, he wishes he had never been born, longing for the peace of death and requesting a brief moment of comfort before his journey to the land of darkness and the shadow of death.

Long Summary

Chapter 10 opens with Job's soul weary and bitter, as he resolves to voice his complaint directly to God, even upon himself. He implores God not to condemn him without first revealing the reason for His contention. Job challenges divine justice, questioning whether it is good for God to oppress His own creation, despise the work of His hands, and seemingly favor the counsel of the wicked. He probes God's nature, asking if He possesses human eyes or perceives time as man does, implying that God should not need to meticulously search for Job's iniquity. Job asserts his innocence, acknowledging God's omnipotence and the impossibility of escaping His hand. He then poignantly reminds God that He meticulously made and fashioned him from clay, pouring him out like milk and clothing him with flesh and bones, having granted him life and favour. Yet, despite being the Creator, God now appears to be destroying him. Job suspects that God has hidden intentions concerning his fate, believing these 'things' are with Him. He feels that any sin is marked, and he cannot be acquitted, leading to a state of profound confusion. Whether he is deemed wicked or righteous, Job cannot lift his head, as his affliction continually increases, feeling hunted by God as a fierce lion. He perceives God as renewing witnesses against him and intensifying His indignation, bringing changes and war against him. Overwhelmed by suffering, Job expresses a fervent wish that he had never been born, desiring to have died at birth and been carried directly to the grave. He pleads for a brief cessation of his suffering, a moment of comfort, before he departs to the inescapable land of darkness and the shadow of death, a place without order where light itself is darkness.

Core Concepts

  • Divine Justice QuestionedJob challenges God's fairness, asking if it is good for the Creator to oppress His own handiwork and search for sin as if He were a fallible human with limited perception.
  • Creator and Destroyer ParadoxJob laments that the same divine hands that meticulously formed him from clay and granted him life and favour now seem intent on his destruction and return to dust.
  • Human Frailty and God's PowerJob highlights his own vulnerability as a creature made of clay, contrasting it with God's overwhelming power from which there is no escape or deliverance.
  • Unjust SufferingJob feels that his suffering is unwarranted, asserting his innocence while experiencing relentless affliction, believing he cannot be acquitted regardless of his state.
  • Desire for DeathOverwhelmed by his plight and increasing torment, Job expresses a profound longing for death, wishing he had never been born to escape his present suffering.
  • The Land of DarknessJob anticipates his inevitable end as a journey to a desolate realm of darkness and the shadow of death, a place without any order where light itself is darkness.
  • God's Hidden IntentionsJob suspects that God harbors secret purposes concerning his suffering, believing that these 'things' have been hidden in God's heart and are now being enacted upon him.