11 “Why did I not perish at birth,
    and die as I came from the womb?(A)
12 Why were there knees to receive me(B)
    and breasts that I might be nursed?
13 For now I would be lying down(C) in peace;
    I would be asleep and at rest(D)
14 with kings and rulers of the earth,(E)
    who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,(F)
15 with princes(G) who had gold,
    who filled their houses with silver.(H)
16 Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,(I)
    like an infant who never saw the light of day?(J)
17 There the wicked cease from turmoil,(K)
    and there the weary are at rest.(L)
18 Captives(M) also enjoy their ease;
    they no longer hear the slave driver’s(N) shout.(O)
19 The small and the great are there,(P)
    and the slaves are freed from their owners.

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11 Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?

12 Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?

13 For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,

14 With kings and counsellors of the earth, which build desolate places for themselves;

15 Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver:

16 Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.

17 There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.

18 There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.

19 The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.

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