Job 7
1 “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.
“Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?
2 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.
Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hireling he waits for his wages.
3 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.
So I am allotted months of futility, and nights of misery are appointed me.
4 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.
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 body is covered with maggots and scabs; pus oozes out of my open sores.
My flesh is clothed with worms and encrusted with dirt; my skin is cracked and festering.
6 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].
My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.
7 God, do not forget that my life is [as short as] a breath [MET]; I [think that] I [SYN] will never again be happy.
Remember that my life is but a breath. My eyes will never again see happiness.
8 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].
The eye that beholds me will no longer see me. You will look for me, but I will be no more.
9 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)
As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up. (Sheol h7585)
10 they never return to their houses, and people among whom they lived do not remember them any more.
He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more.
11 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.
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 [God, ] why do you watch closely what I am doing? [Do you think that] I am a [dangerous] sea monster?
Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that You must keep me under guard?
13 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.’
When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint,
14 But then you give me dreams that cause me to be afraid; you give me visions that terrify me,
then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions,
15 with the result that I would prefer to be strangled to death than to continue to [be alive] being only a bunch of bones.
so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body.
16 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].
I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
17 “We human beings are not [very important]; so, why do you pay a lot of attention to us [DOU]?
What is man that You should exalt him, that You should set Your heart upon him,
18 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].
that You attend to him every morning, and test him every moment?
19 (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]
Will You never look away from me, or leave me alone to swallow my spittle?
20 [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?
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 [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.”
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.”
