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?
“Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?
2 Or as a servant that fears his master, and one who has grasped a shadow? or as a hireling waiting for his pay?
Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hireling he waits for his wages.
3 So have I also endured months of vanity, and nights of pain have been appointed me.
So I am allotted months of futility, and nights of misery are appointed me.
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 I think: ‘When will I get up?’ But the night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.
5 And my body is covered with loathsome worms; and I waste away, scraping off clods of dust from my eruption.
My flesh is clothed with worms and encrusted with dirt; my skin is cracked and festering.
6 And my life is lighter than a word, and has perished in vain hope.
My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.
7 Remember then that my life is breath, and mine eye shall not yet again see good.
Remember that my life is but a breath. My eyes will never again see happiness.
8 The eye of him that sees me shall not see me [again]: your eyes are upon me, and I am no more.
The eye that beholds me will no longer see me. You will look for me, but I will be no more.
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)
As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up. (Sheol h7585)
10 and he shall surely not return to his own house, neither shall his place know him any more.
He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no 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.
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 serpent, that you have set a watch over me?
Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that You must keep me under guard?
13 I said that my bed should comfort me, and I would privately counsel with myself on my couch.
When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint,
14 You scare me with dreams, and do terrify me with visions.
then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions,
15 You will separate life from my spirit; and yet [keep] my bones from death.
so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body.
16 For I shall not live for ever, that I should patiently endure: depart from me, for my life [is] vain.
I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
17 For what is man, that you have magnified him? or that you give heed to him?
What is man that You should exalt him, that You should set Your heart upon him,
18 Will you visit him till the morning, and judge him till [the time of] rest?
that You attend to him every morning, and test him every moment?
19 How long do you not let me alone, nor let me go, until I shall swallow down my spittle?
Will You never look away from me, or leave me alone to swallow my spittle?
20 If I have sinned, what shall I be able to do, O you that understand the mind of men? why have you made me as your accuser, and [why] am I a burden to you?
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 Why have you not forgotten my iniquity, and purged my sin? but now I shall depart to the earth; and in the morning I am no more.
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.”
