Job 7
1 “Is there not warfare to man on earth? And his days as the days of a hired worker?
“Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?
2 As a servant desires the shadow, And as a hired worker expects his wage,
Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hireling he waits for his wages.
3 So I have been caused to inherit months of vanity, And they numbered nights of misery to me.
So I am allotted months of futility, and nights of misery are appointed me.
4 If I lay down, then I have said, When do I rise, And evening has been measured? And I have been full of tossings until dawn.
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 has been clothed [with] worms, And a clod of dust, My skin has been shriveled and is loathsome,
My flesh is clothed with worms and encrusted with dirt; my skin is cracked and festering.
6 My days swifter than a loom, And they are consumed without hope.
My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.
7 Remember that my life [is] a breath, My eye does not turn back to see good.
Remember that my life is but a breath. My eyes will never again see happiness.
8 The eye of my beholder does not behold me. Your eyes [are] on me—and I am not.
The eye that beholds me will no longer see me. You will look for me, but I will be no more.
9 A cloud has been consumed, and it goes, So he who is going down to Sheol does not come up. (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 does not turn to his house again, Nor does his place discern him again.
He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more.
11 Also I do not withhold my mouth—I speak in the distress of my spirit, I talk 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 a sea [monster], or a dragon, That You set a watch over me?
Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that You must keep me under guard?
13 When I said, My bed comforts me, In my talking He takes away my couch.
When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint,
14 And You have frightened me with dreams, And You terrify me from visions,
then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions,
15 And my soul chooses strangling, Death rather than my bones.
so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body.
16 I have wasted away—I do not live for all time. Cease from me, for my days [are] vanity.
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 magnify him? And that You set Your heart to him?
What is man that You should exalt him, that You should set Your heart upon him,
18 And inspect him in the mornings, [And] in the evenings try him?
that You attend to him every morning, and test him every moment?
19 How long do You not look from me? You do not desist until I swallow my spittle.
Will You never look away from me, or leave me alone to swallow my spittle?
20 I have sinned, what do I do to You, O watcher of man? Why have You set me for a mark to You, And I am for a burden to myself—and what?
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 You do not take away my transgression, And [do not] cause my iniquity to pass away, Because now, I lie down in dust, And You have sought me—and I am not!”
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.”
