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.
The life of a man on the earth is a battle, and his days are like the days 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.
Just as a servant desires the shade, and just as the hired hand looks forward to the end of his work,
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 also have I had empty months and have counted my burdensome nights.
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.
If I lie down to sleep, I will say, “When will I rise?” And next I will hope for the evening and will be filled with sorrows even until darkness.
5 My body is covered with maggots and scabs; pus oozes out of my open sores.
My flesh is clothed with particles of rottenness and filth; my skin is dried up and tightened.
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 have passed by more quickly than threads are cut by a weaver, and they have been consumed without any 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 wind, and my eye will not return to see good things.
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].
Neither will the sight of man gaze upon me; your eyes are upon me, and I will not endure.
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)
Just as a cloud is consumed and passes away, so he who descends to hell will not ascend. (Sheol h7585)
10 they never return to their houses, and people among whom they lived do not remember them any more.
He will not return again to his house, nor will his own place know him any longer.
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.
And because of this, I will not restrain my mouth. I will speak in the affliction of my spirit. I will converse from 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 an ocean or a whale, that you have encircled me in a prison?
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.’
If I say, “My bed will comfort me, and I will find rest, speaking with myself on my blanket,”
14 But then you give me dreams that cause me to be afraid; you give me visions that terrify me,
then you will frighten me with dreams, and strike dread through 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, because of these things, my soul would choose hanging, and my bones, death.
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 despair; by no means will I live any longer. Spare me, for my days are nothing.
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 praise him? Or why do you place your heart near 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].
You visit him at dawn, and you test him unexpectedly.
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]
How long will you not spare me, nor release me to ingest my saliva?
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?
I have sinned; what should I do for you, O keeper of men? Why have you set me against you, so that I have become burdensome even to myself?
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 steal away my sin, and why do you not sweep away my iniquity? Behold, now I will sleep in the dust, and if you seek me in the morning, I will not remain.
