Job 7
1 Militia est vita hominis super terram, et sicut dies mercenarii dies ejus.
“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 Sicut servus desiderat umbram, et sicut mercenarius præstolatur finem operis sui,
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 sic et ego habui menses vacuos, et noctes laboriosas enumeravi mihi.
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 Si dormiero, dicam: Quando consurgam? et rursum expectabo vesperam, et replebor doloribus usque ad tenebras.
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 Induta est caro mea putredine, et sordibus pulveris cutis mea aruit et contracta est.
My body is covered with maggots and scabs; pus oozes out of my open sores.
6 Dies mei velocius transierunt quam a texente tela succiditur, et consumpti sunt absque ulla spe.
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 Memento quia ventus est vita mea, et non revertetur oculus meus ut videat bona.
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 Nec aspiciet me visus hominis; oculi tui in me, et non subsistam.
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 Sicut consumitur nubes, et pertransit, sic qui descenderit ad inferos, non ascendet. (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 Nec revertetur ultra in domum suam, neque cognoscet eum amplius locus ejus.
they never return to their houses, and people among whom they lived do not remember them any more.
11 Quapropter et ego non parcam ori meo: loquar in tribulatione spiritus mei; confabulabor cum amaritudine animæ meæ.
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 Numquid mare ego sum, aut cetus, quia circumdedisti me carcere?
[God, ] why do you watch closely what I am doing? [Do you think that] I am a [dangerous] sea monster?
13 Si dixero: Consolabitur me lectulus meus, et relevabor loquens mecum in strato meo:
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 terrebis me per somnia, et per visiones horrore concuties.
But then you give me dreams that cause me to be afraid; you give me visions that terrify me,
15 Quam ob rem elegit suspendium anima mea, et mortem ossa mea.
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 Desperavi: nequaquam ultra jam vivam: parce mihi, nihil enim sunt dies mei.
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 Quid est homo, quia magnificas eum? aut quid apponis erga eum cor tuum?
“We human beings are not [very important]; so, why do you pay a lot of attention to us [DOU]?
18 Visitas eum diluculo, et subito probas illum.
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 Usquequo non parcis mihi, nec dimittis me ut glutiam salivam meam?
(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 Peccavi; quid faciam tibi, o custos hominum? quare posuisti me contrarium tibi, et factus sum mihimetipsi gravis?
[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 Cur non tollis peccatum meum, et quare non aufers iniquitatem meam? ecce nunc in pulvere dormiam, et si mane me quæsieris, non subsistam.
[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.”
