Job 7
1 “Is there not warfare to man on earth? And his days as the days of a hired worker?
“Isn't life for human beings like serving a sentence of hard labor? Don't their days pass like those of a hired laborer?
2 As a servant desires the shadow, And as a hired worker expects his wage,
Like some slave longing for a bit of shade, like a hired hand anxiously waiting for pay day,
3 So I have been caused to inherit months of vanity, And they numbered nights of misery to me.
I've been given months of emptiness and nights of misery.
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 go to bed I ask, ‘When shall I get up?’ But the night goes on and 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 body is covered with maggots and caked in dirt; my skin is cracked, with oozing sores.
6 My days swifter than a loom, And they are consumed without hope.
My days pass quicker than a weaver's shuttle and 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 just a breath; I will not see happiness again.
8 The eye of my beholder does not behold me. Your eyes [are] on me—and I am not.
Those watching me won't see me anymore; your eyes will be looking for me, but I will be gone.
9 A cloud has been consumed, and it goes, So he who is going down to Sheol does not come up. (Sheol h7585)
When a cloud disappears, it's gone, just as anyone 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.
They will never return home, and the people they knew will forget them.
11 Also I do not withhold my mouth—I speak in the distress of my spirit, I talk in the bitterness of my soul.
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.
12 Am I a sea [monster], or a dragon, That You set a watch over me?
Am I the sea or a sea monster that you have to guard me?
13 When I said, My bed comforts me, In my talking He takes away my couch.
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,’
14 And You have frightened me with dreams, And You terrify me from visions,
then you scare me so much with dreams and terrify me with visions
15 And my soul chooses strangling, Death rather than my bones.
that I would rather be strangled—I would rather die than become just a bag of bones.
16 I have wasted away—I do not live for all time. Cease from me, for my days [are] vanity.
I hate my life! I know I won't live long. Leave me alone because my life is just a breath.
17 What [is] man that You magnify him? And that You set Your heart to him?
Why are human beings so important to you; why are you so concerned about them
18 And inspect him in the mornings, [And] in the evenings try him?
that you inspect them every morning and test them every moment? Won't you ever stop staring at me?
19 How long do You not look from me? You do not desist until I swallow my spittle.
Won't you ever leave me alone long enough to catch my breath?
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?
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?
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!”
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.”
