9. Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light but there be none, and let it not see the eyelids of dawn
10. because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb, nor did it hide trouble from my eyes.
11. “Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not come forth from the womb and expire?
12. Why did the knees receive me and the breasts, that I could suck?
13. For now I would lie down, and I would be at peace; I would be asleep; then I would be at rest
14. with kings and counselors of the earth, who rebuild ruins for themselves,
15. or with high officials who have gold, who fill up their houses with silver.
16. Or why was I not hidden like a miscarriage, like infants who did not see the light?
17. There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest;
18. the prisoners are at ease together; they do not hear the oppressor’s voice.
19. The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his masters.
20. “Why does he give light to one in misery and life to those bitter of soul,
21. who wait for death, but it does not come, and search for it more than for treasures,
22. who rejoice exceedingly, and they are glad when they find the grave?
23. Why does he give light to a man whose way is hidden, and God has fenced him in all around?