Job 7
1 Is not the life of man upon earth a state of trial? and his existence as that of a hireling by the day?
“People need to work hard on this earth, like soldiers do; all during the time that we are alive, we work hard [RHQ], like laborers/servants do.
2 Or as a servant that fears his master, and one who has grasped a shadow? or as a hireling waiting for his pay?
We are like [SIM] slaves who keep wanting to be in the cool shade, and we are like [SIM] workers who are waiting to be paid.
3 So have I also endured months of vanity, and nights of pain have been appointed me.
God has given me many months [in which I think that it is] useless [to remain alive]; he has allotted/given to me many nights during which I feel miserable.
4 Whenever I lie down, I say, When [will it be] day? and whenever I rise up, again [I say] when [will it be] evening? and I am full of pains from evening to morning.
When I lie down [at night] I say, ‘How long will it be until morning?’ But nights are long, and I (toss/turn over and over) [on my bed] until dawn.
5 And my body is covered with loathsome worms; and I waste away, scraping off clods of dust from my eruption.
My body is covered with maggots and scabs; pus oozes out of my open sores.
6 And my life is lighter than a word, and has perished in vain hope.
My days pass as quickly as a weaver’s (shuttle/stick that takes the thread back and forth), and they end without my confidently expecting [that things will be better the next day].
7 Remember then that my life is breath, and mine eye shalt not yet again see good.
God, do not forget that my life is [as short as] a breath [MET]; I [think that] I [SYN] will never again be happy.
8 The eye of him that sees me shall not see me [again]: thine eyes are upon me, and I am no more.
God, you [SYN] see me now, but [some day] you will not see me any more. You will search for me, but I will be gone [because I will be dead].
9 [I am] as a cloud that is cleared away from the sky: for if a man go down to the grave, he shall not come up again: (Sheol h7585)
Like [SIM] clouds (disperse/break up) and then disappear, people [die and] descend to the place where dead people are, and they do not return; (Sheol h7585)
10 and he shall surely not return to his own house, neither shall his place know him any more.
they never return to their houses, and people among whom they lived do not remember them any more.
11 Then neither will I refrain my mouth: I will speak being in distress; being in anguish I will disclose the bitterness of my soul.
So, I will not be silent; while I am suffering I will speak; I will complain [to God about what has happened to me] because I [SYN] am very angry.
12 Am I a sea, or a serpent, that thou hast set a watch over me?
[God, ] why do you watch closely what I am doing? [Do you think that] I am a [dangerous] sea monster?
13 I said that my bed should comfort me, and I would privately counsel with myself on my couch.
When [I lie down at night, ] I think, ‘I will be comforted here on my bed; my pain will be less while I am sleeping.’
14 Thou scarest me with dreams, and dost terrify me with visions.
But then you give me dreams that cause me to be afraid; you give me visions that terrify me,
15 Thou wilt separate life from my spirit; and yet [keep] my bones from death.
with the result that I would prefer to be strangled to death than to continue to [be alive] being only a bunch of bones.
16 For I shall not live for ever, that I should patiently endure: depart from me, for my life [is] vain.
I detest continuing to be alive; I do not want to live for many years [HYP]. Allow me to be alone, [because I will be alive] for only a very short remaining time [HYP].
17 For what is man, that thou hast magnified him? or that thou givest heed to him?
“We human beings are not [very important]; so, why do you pay a lot of attention to us [DOU]?
18 Wilt thou visit him till the morning, and judge him till [the time of] rest?
You look at us every morning [to see what we are doing], and examine us every moment [to see if we are doing what is right].
19 How long dost thou not let me alone, nor let me go, until I shall swallow down my spittle?
(When will you stop looking at me and leave me alone [for a little time], long enough to swallow my spit?/Please stop looking at me and leave me alone [for a little time], long enough to swallow my spit.) [RHQ]
20 If I have sinned, what shall I be able to do, O thou that understandest the mind of men? why hast thou made me as thine accuser, and [why] am I a burden to thee?
[Why do] you watch me constantly? If I sin, that certainly does not harm you! Why have you set me up like a target to shoot at? Do you consider me to be a heavy load that you are forced to carry?
21 Why hast thou not forgotten my iniquity, and purged my sin? but now I shall depart to the earth; and in the morning I am no more.
[If I have sinned, ] are you not able to forgive me for my sins— the things that I have done that are wrong? Soon I will lie in my grave; you will search for me, but [you will not find me because] I will be [dead and] gone.”
