< Job 7 >

1 Militia est vita hominis super terram, et sicut dies mercenarii dies ejus.
Hath not man a life of labour upon earth? and are not his days like the days of a hireling?
2 Sicut servus desiderat umbram, et sicut mercenarius præstolatur finem operis sui,
As a bondman earnestly desireth the shadow, and a hireling expecteth his wages,
3 sic et ego habui menses vacuos, et noctes laboriosas enumeravi mihi.
So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.
4 Si dormiero, dicam: Quando consurgam? et rursum expectabo vesperam, et replebor doloribus usque ad tenebras.
If I lie down, I say, When shall I rise up, and the darkness be gone? and I am full of tossings until the dawn.
5 Induta est caro mea putredine, et sordibus pulveris cutis mea aruit et contracta est.
My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and suppurates.
6 Dies mei velocius transierunt quam a texente tela succiditur, et consumpti sunt absque ulla spe.
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.
7 Memento quia ventus est vita mea, et non revertetur oculus meus ut videat bona.
Remember thou that my life is wind; mine eye shall no more see good.
8 Nec aspiciet me visus hominis; oculi tui in me, et non subsistam.
The eye of him that hath seen me shall behold me no [more]: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.
9 Sicut consumitur nubes, et pertransit, sic qui descenderit ad inferos, non ascendet. (Sheol h7585)
The cloud consumeth and vanisheth away; so he that goeth down to Sheol shall not come up. (Sheol h7585)
10 Nec revertetur ultra in domum suam, neque cognoscet eum amplius locus ejus.
He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him again.
11 Quapropter et ego non parcam ori meo: loquar in tribulatione spiritus mei; confabulabor cum amaritudine animæ meæ.
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 Numquid mare ego sum, aut cetus, quia circumdedisti me carcere?
Am I a sea, or a sea-monster, that thou settest a watch over me?
13 Si dixero: Consolabitur me lectulus meus, et relevabor loquens mecum in strato meo:
When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;
14 terrebis me per somnia, et per visiones horrore concuties.
Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions;
15 Quam ob rem elegit suspendium anima mea, et mortem ossa mea.
So that my soul chooseth strangling, death, rather than my bones.
16 Desperavi: nequaquam ultra jam vivam: parce mihi, nihil enim sunt dies mei.
I loathe it; I shall not live always: let me alone, for my days are a breath.
17 Quid est homo, quia magnificas eum? aut quid apponis erga eum cor tuum?
What is man, that thou makest much of him? and that thou settest thy heart upon him?
18 Visitas eum diluculo, et subito probas illum.
And that thou visitest him every morning, triest him every moment?
19 Usquequo non parcis mihi, nec dimittis me ut glutiam salivam meam?
How long wilt thou not look away from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?
20 Peccavi; quid faciam tibi, o custos hominum? quare posuisti me contrarium tibi, et factus sum mihimetipsi gravis?
Have I sinned, what do I unto thee, thou Observer of men? Why hast thou set me as an object of assault for thee, so that I am become a burden to myself?
21 Cur non tollis peccatum meum, et quare non aufers iniquitatem meam? ecce nunc in pulvere dormiam, et si mane me quæsieris, non subsistam.
And why dost not thou forgive my transgression and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I lie down in the dust, and thou shalt seek me early, and I shall not be.

< Job 7 >