¹¹ “^(A)Why did I not die from the womb,
Come forth from the womb and breathe my last?
¹² Why did the knees receive me,
And why the breasts, that I should suck?
¹³ For now I ^(B)would have lain down and been quiet;
I would have slept then; it would have been rest to me,
¹⁴ With ^(C)kings and with ^(D)counselors of the earth,
Who rebuilt ^(E)waste places for themselves,
¹⁵ Or with ^(F)princes ^(G)who had gold,
Who were filling their houses with silver.
¹⁶ Or why was I not like a miscarriage hidden away,
As infants that never saw light?
¹⁷ There the wicked cease from raging,
And there the weary of strength are at ^(H)rest.
¹⁸ The prisoners are at ease together;
They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.
¹⁹ The small and the great are there,
And the slave is free from his master.

²⁰ “Why is ^(I)light given to him who is troubled,
And life to the bitter of soul,
²¹ Who ^[a](J)long for death, but there is none,
And dig for it more than for ^(K)hidden treasures,
²² Who are glad with joy,
And rejoice when they find the grave?
²³ Why is light given to a man ^(L)whose way is hidden,
And whom ^(M)God has hedged in?
²⁴ For ^(N)my groaning comes at the sight of my food,
And ^(O)my roaring pours out like water.
²⁵ For ^(P)the dread that I dread comes upon me,
And what I am afraid of befalls me.
²⁶ I ^(Q)am not complacent, nor am I quiet,
And I am not at rest, and raging comes.”