Job 7
1 “Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?
The life of a man on the earth is a battle, and his days are like the days of a hired hand.
2 Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hireling he waits for his wages.
Just as a servant desires the shade, and just as the hired hand looks forward to the end of his work,
3 So I am allotted months of futility, and nights of misery are appointed me.
so also have I had empty months and have counted my burdensome nights.
4 When I lie down I think: ‘When will I get up?’ But the night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.
If I lie down to sleep, I will say, “When will I rise?” And next I will hope for the evening and will be filled with sorrows even until darkness.
5 My flesh is clothed with worms and encrusted with dirt; my skin is cracked and festering.
My flesh is clothed with particles of rottenness and filth; my skin is dried up and tightened.
6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.
My days have passed by more quickly than threads are cut by a weaver, and they have been consumed without any hope.
7 Remember that my life is but a breath. My eyes will never again see happiness.
Remember that my life is wind, and my eye will not return to see good things.
8 The eye that beholds me will no longer see me. You will look for me, but I will be no more.
Neither will the sight of man gaze upon me; your eyes are upon me, and I will not endure.
9 As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up. (Sheol h7585)
Just as a cloud is consumed and passes away, so he who descends to hell will not ascend. (Sheol h7585)
10 He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more.
He will not return again to his house, nor will his own place know him any longer.
11 Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
And because of this, I will not restrain my mouth. I will speak in the affliction of my spirit. I will converse from the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that You must keep me under guard?
Am I an ocean or a whale, that you have encircled me in a prison?
13 When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint,
If I say, “My bed will comfort me, and I will find rest, speaking with myself on my blanket,”
14 then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions,
then you will frighten me with dreams, and strike dread through visions,
15 so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body.
so that, because of these things, my soul would choose hanging, and my bones, death.
16 I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
I despair; by no means will I live any longer. Spare me, for my days are nothing.
17 What is man that You should exalt him, that You should set Your heart upon him,
What is man, that you should praise him? Or why do you place your heart near him?
18 that You attend to him every morning, and test him every moment?
You visit him at dawn, and you test him unexpectedly.
19 Will You never look away from me, or leave me alone to swallow my spittle?
How long will you not spare me, nor release me to ingest my saliva?
20 If I have sinned, what have I done to You, O watcher of mankind? Why have You made me Your target, so that I am a burden to You?
I have sinned; what should I do for you, O keeper of men? Why have you set me against you, so that I have become burdensome even to myself?
21 Why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For soon I will lie down in the dust; You will seek me, but I will be no more.”
Why do you not steal away my sin, and why do you not sweep away my iniquity? Behold, now I will sleep in the dust, and if you seek me in the morning, I will not remain.
