איוב 7

1 הלא צבא לאנוש על ארץ וכימי שכיר ימיו׃

“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.

2 כעבד ישאף צל וכשכיר יקוה פעלו׃

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.

3 כן הנחלתי לי ירחי שוא ולילות עמל מנו לי׃

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.

4 אם שכבתי ואמרתי מתי אקום ומדד ערב ושבעתי נדדים עדי נשף׃

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.

5 לבש בשרי רמה וגיש עפר עורי רגע וימאס׃

My body is covered with maggots and scabs; pus oozes out of my open sores.

6 ימי קלו מני ארג ויכלו באפס תקוה׃

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].

7 זכר כי רוח חיי לא תשוב עיני לראות טוב׃

God, do not forget that my life is [as short as] a breath [MET]; I [think that] I [SYN] will never again be happy.

8 לא תשורני עין ראי עיניך בי ואינני׃

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].

9 כלה ענן וילך כן יורד שאול לא יעלה׃ (Sheol h7585)

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)

10 לא ישוב עוד לביתו ולא יכירנו עוד מקמו׃

they never return to their houses, and people among whom they lived do not remember them any more.

11 גם אני לא אחשך פי אדברה בצר רוחי אשיחה במר נפשי׃

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.

12 הים אני אם תנין כי תשים עלי משמר׃

[God, ] why do you watch closely what I am doing? [Do you think that] I am a [dangerous] sea monster?

13 כי אמרתי תנחמני ערשי ישא בשיחי משכבי׃

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.’

14 וחתתני בחלמות ומחזינות תבעתני׃

But then you give me dreams that cause me to be afraid; you give me visions that terrify me,

15 ותבחר מחנק נפשי מות מעצמותי׃

with the result that I would prefer to be strangled to death than to continue to [be alive] being only a bunch of bones.

16 מאסתי לא לעלם אחיה חדל ממני כי הבל ימי׃

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].

17 מה אנוש כי תגדלנו וכי תשית אליו לבך׃

“We human beings are not [very important]; so, why do you pay a lot of attention to us [DOU]?

18 ותפקדנו לבקרים לרגעים תבחננו׃

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].

19 כמה לא תשעה ממני לא תרפני עד בלעי רקי׃

(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]

20 חטאתי מה אפעל לך נצר האדם למה שמתני למפגע לך ואהיה עלי למשא׃

[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?

21 ומה לא תשא פשעי ותעביר את עוני כי עתה לעפר אשכב ושחרתני ואינני׃

[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.”