Job 7
1 The life of man upon earth is a warfare, and his days are like the days of a hireling.
“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 As a servant longeth for the shade, as the hireling looketh for the end of his work;
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 I also have had empty months, and have numbered to myself wearisome nights.
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 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.
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 My flesh is clothed with rottenness and the filth of dust, my skin is withered and drawn together.
My body is covered with maggots and scabs; pus oozes out of my open sores.
6 My days have passed more swiftly than the web is cut by the weaver, and are consumed without any 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 that my life is but wind, and my eyes shall not return to see good things.
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 Nor shall the sight of man behold me: thy eyes are upon me, and I shall be 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 As a cloud is consumed, and passeth away: so he that shall go down to hell shall not come up. (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 Nor shall he return my more into his 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 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.
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 whale, that thou hast enclosed me in a prison?
[God, ] why do you watch closely what I am doing? [Do you think that] I am a [dangerous] sea monster?
13 If I say: My bed shall comfort me, and I shall be relieved speaking 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 wilt frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions.
But then you give me dreams that cause me to be afraid; you give me visions that terrify me,
15 So that my soul rather chooseth hanging, and my bones 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 I have done with hope, I shall now live no longer: spare me, for my days are nothing.
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 What is a man that thou shouldst magnify him? or why dost thou set thy heart upon him?
“We human beings are not [very important]; so, why do you pay a lot of attention to us [DOU]?
18 Thou visitest him early in the morning, and thou provest him suddenly.
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 wilt thou not spare me, nor suffer me to 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 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?
[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 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.
[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.”
