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.
“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 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 some slave longing for a bit of shade, like a hired hand anxiously waiting for pay day,
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.
I've been given months of emptiness and nights of misery.
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 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 body is covered with maggots and scabs; pus oozes out of my open sores.
My body is covered with maggots and caked in dirt; my skin is cracked, with oozing sores.
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 pass quicker than a weaver's shuttle and 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 just a breath; I will not see happiness again.
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].
Those watching me won't see me anymore; your eyes will be looking for me, but I will be gone.
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)
When a cloud disappears, it's gone, just as anyone 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.
They will never return home, and the people they knew will forget them.
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.
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 [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 a sea monster that you have to guard me?
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 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 But then you give me dreams that cause me to be afraid; you give me visions that terrify me,
then you scare me so much 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.
that I would rather be strangled—I would rather die than become just a bag of bones.
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 hate my life! I know I won't live long. Leave me alone because my life is just a breath.
17 “We human beings are not [very important]; so, why do you pay a lot of attention to us [DOU]?
Why are human beings so important to you; why are you so concerned about them
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 inspect them every morning and test them every moment? Won't you ever stop staring at me?
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]
Won't you ever leave me alone long enough to catch my breath?
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?
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 [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.”
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.”
