Job 7
1 “Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?
The life of man upon earth is a warfare, and his days are like the days of a hireling.
2 Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hireling he waits for his wages.
As a servant longeth for the shade, as the hireling looketh for the end of his work;
3 So I am allotted months of futility, and nights of misery are appointed me.
So I also have had empty months, and have numbered to myself wearisome 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 shall say: When shall arise? and again I shall look for the evening, and shall be filled with sorrows even till darkness.
5 My flesh is clothed with worms and encrusted with dirt; my skin is cracked and festering.
My flesh is clothed with rottenness and the filth of dust, my skin is withered and drawn together.
6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.
My days have passed more swiftly than the web is cut by the weaver, and are 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 but wind, and my eyes shall 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.
Nor shall the sight of man behold me: thy eyes are upon me, and I shall be no more.
9 As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up. (Sheol h7585)
As a cloud is consumed, and passeth away: so he that shall go down to hell shall not come up. (Sheol h7585)
10 He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more.
Nor shall he return my more into his house, neither shall his place know him any more.
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.
Wherefore I will not spare my month, I will speak in the affliction of my spirit: I will talk with 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 a sea, or a whale, that thou hast enclosed 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 shall comfort me, and I shall be relieved speaking with myself on my couch:
14 then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions,
Thou wilt frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions.
15 so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body.
So that my soul rather chooseth 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 have done with hope, I shall now live no 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 a man that thou shouldst magnify him? or why dost thou set thy heart upon him?
18 that You attend to him every morning, and test him every moment?
Thou visitest him early in the morning, and thou provest him suddenly.
19 Will You never look away from me, or leave me alone to swallow my spittle?
How long wilt thou not spare me, nor suffer me to swallow down my spittle?
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 shall I do to thee, O keeper of men? why hast thou set me opposite to thee, and I am become burdensome 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 dost thou not remove my sin, and why dost thou not take away my iniquity? Behold now I shall sleep in the dust: and if thou seek me in the morning, I shall not be.
