Job 7
1 Has not man his ordered time of trouble on the earth? and are not his days like the days of a servant working for payment?
“Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?
2 As a servant desiring the shades of evening, and a workman looking for his payment:
Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hireling he waits for his wages.
3 So I have for my heritage months of pain to no purpose, and nights of weariness are given to me.
So I am allotted months of futility, and nights of misery are appointed me.
4 When I go to my bed, I say, When will it be time to get up? but the night is long, and I am turning from side to side till morning light.
When I lie down I think: ‘When will I get up?’ But the night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.
5 My flesh is covered with worms and dust; my skin gets hard and then is cracked again.
My flesh is clothed with worms and encrusted with dirt; my skin is cracked and festering.
6 My days go quicker than the cloth-worker's thread, and come to an end without hope.
My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.
7 O, keep in mind that my life is wind: my eye will never again see good.
Remember that my life is but a breath. My eyes will never again see happiness.
8 The eye of him who sees me will see me no longer: your eyes will be looking for me, but I will be gone.
The eye that beholds me will no longer see me. You will look for me, but I will be no more.
9 A cloud comes to an end and is gone; so he who goes down into the underworld comes not up again. (Sheol h7585)
As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up. (Sheol h7585)
10 He will not come back to his house, and his place will have no more knowledge of him.
He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more.
11 So I will not keep my mouth shut; I will let the words come from it in the pain of my spirit, my soul will make a bitter outcry.
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.
12 Am I a sea, or a sea-beast, that you put a watch over me?
Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that You must keep me under guard?
13 When I say, In my bed I will have comfort, there I will get rest from my disease;
When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint,
14 Then you send dreams to me, and visions of fear;
then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions,
15 So that a hard death seems better to my soul than my pains.
so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body.
16 I have no desire for life, I would not be living for ever! Keep away from me, for my days are as a breath.
I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
17 What is man, that you have made him great, and that your attention is fixed on him,
What is man that You should exalt him, that You should set Your heart upon him,
18 And that your hand is on him every morning, and that you are testing him every minute?
that You attend to him every morning, and test him every moment?
19 How long will it be before your eyes are turned away from me, so that I may have a minute's breathing-space?
Will You never look away from me, or leave me alone to swallow my spittle?
20 If I have done wrong, what have I done to you, O keeper of men? why have you made me a mark for your blows, so that I am a weariness to myself?
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?
21 And why do you not take away my sin, and let my wrongdoing be ended? for now I go down to the dust, and you will be searching for me with care, but I will be gone.
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.”
