Job 7
1 “Isn't life for human beings like serving a sentence of hard labor? Don't their days pass like those of a hired laborer?
Is there not a war-service for man on the earth? Are not his days as the days of a hireling?
2 Like some slave longing for a bit of shade, like a hired hand anxiously waiting for pay day,
As a servant panteth for the shade, And as a hireling looketh for his wages,
3 I've been given months of emptiness and nights of misery.
So am I made to possess months of affliction, And wearisome nights are appointed for me.
4 When I go to bed I ask, ‘When shall I get up?’ But the night goes on and on, and I toss and turn until dawn.
If I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? And I am full of restlessness until the dawning of the day.
5 My body is covered with maggots and caked in dirt; my skin is cracked, with oozing sores.
My flesh is clothed with worms, and clods of dust; My skin is broken and become loathsome.
6 My days pass quicker than a weaver's shuttle and they come to an end without hope.
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle; They pass away without hope.
7 Remember that my life is just a breath; I will not see happiness again.
O remember that my life is a breath; That mine eye shall no more see good!
8 Those watching me won't see me anymore; your eyes will be looking for me, but I will be gone.
The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more; Thine eyes shall look for me, but I shall not be.
9 When a cloud disappears, it's gone, just as anyone who goes down to Sheol does not come back up. (Sheol h7585)
As the cloud dissolveth and wasteth away, So he that goeth down to the grave shall arise no more; (Sheol h7585)
10 They will never return home, and the people they knew will forget them.
No more shall he return to his house, And his dwelling-place shall know him no more.
11 So, no, I won't hold my tongue—I will speak in the agony of my spirit; I will complain in 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 the sea or a sea monster that you have to guard me?
Am I a sea, or a sea-monster, That thou settest a watch over me?
13 If I tell myself, ‘I'll feel better if I lie down in my bed,’ or ‘it will help me to lie down on my couch,’
When I say, My bed shall relieve me, My couch shall ease my complaint,
14 then you scare me so much with dreams and terrify me with visions
Then thou scarest me with dreams, And terrifiest me with visions;
15 that I would rather be strangled—I would rather die than become just a bag of bones.
So that my soul chooseth strangling, Yea, death, rather than these my bones.
16 I hate my life! I know I won't live long. Leave me alone because my life is just a breath.
I am wasting away; I shall not live alway: Let me alone, for my days are a vapor!
17 Why are human beings so important to you; why are you so concerned about them
What is man, that thou shouldst make great account him, And fix thy mind upon him?—
18 that you inspect them every morning and test them every moment? Won't you ever stop staring at me?
That thou shouldst visit him every morning, And prove him every moment?
19 Won't you ever leave me alone long enough to catch my breath?
How long ere thou wilt look away from me, And let me alone, till I have time to breathe?
20 What have I done wrong? What have I done to you, Watcher of Humanity? Why have you made me your target, so that I'm a burden even to myself?
If I have sinned, what have I done to thee, O thou watcher of men! Why hast thou set me up as thy mark, So that I have become a burden to myself?
21 If so why don't you pardon my sins, and take away my guilt? Right now I'm going to lie down in the dust, and though you will look for me, I will be gone.”
And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, And take away mine iniquity? For soon shall I sleep in the dust; And, though thou seek me diligently, I shall not be.
