< Job 7 >
1 Militia est vita hominis super terram: et sicut dies mercenarii, dies eius.
Is there not a warfare to man on earth? And as the days of an hireling his days?
2 Sicut servus desiderat umbram, et sicut mercenarius praestolatur finem operis sui:
As a servant desireth the shadow, And as a hireling expecteth his wage,
3 Sic et ego habui menses vacuos, et noctes laboriosas enumeravi mihi.
So I have been caused to inherit months of vanity, And nights of misery they numbered to me.
4 Si dormiero, dicam: Quando consurgam? et rursum expectabo vesperam, et replebor doloribus usque ad tenebras.
If I lay down then I said, 'When do I rise!' And evening hath been measured, And I have been full of tossings till dawn.
5 Induta est caro mea putredine et sordibus pulveris, cutis mea aruit, et contracta est.
Clothed hath been my flesh [with] worms, And a clod of dust, My skin hath been shrivelled and is loathsome,
6 Dies mei velocius transierunt quam a texente tela succiditur, et consumpti sunt absque ulla spe.
My days swifter than a weaving machine, And they are consumed without hope.
7 Memento quia ventus est vita mea, et non revertetur oculus meus ut videat bona.
Remember Thou that my life [is] a breath, Mine eye turneth not back to see good.
8 Nec aspiciet me visus hominis: oculi tui in me, et non subsistam.
The eye of my beholder beholdeth me not. Thine eyes [are] upon me — and I am not.
9 Sicut consumitur nubes, et pertransit: sic qui descenderit ad inferos, non ascendet. (Sheol )
Consumed hath been a cloud, and it goeth, So he who is going down to Sheol cometh not up. (Sheol )
10 Nec revertetur ultra in domum suam, neque cognoscet eum amplius locus eius.
He turneth not again to his house, Nor doth his place discern him again.
11 Quapropter et ego non parcam ori meo, loquar in tribulatione spiritus mei: confabulabor cum amaritudine animae meae.
Also I — I withhold not my mouth — I speak in the distress of my spirit, I talk in the bitterness of my soul.
12 Numquid mare ego sum, aut cetus, quia circumdedisti me carcere?
A sea -[monster] am I, or a dragon, That thou settest over me a guard?
13 Si dixero: Consolabitur me lectulus meus, et relevabor loquens mecum in strato meo:
When I said, 'My bed doth comfort me,' He taketh away in my talking my couch.
14 Terrebis me per somnia, et per visiones horrore concuties.
And thou hast affrighted me with dreams, And from visions thou terrifiest me,
15 Quam ob rem elegit suspendium anima mea, et mortem ossa mea.
And my soul chooseth strangling, Death rather than my bones.
16 Desperavi, nequaquam ultra iam vivam: parce mihi, nihil enim sunt dies mei.
I have wasted away — not to the age do I live. Cease from me, for my days [are] vanity.
17 Quid est homo, quia magnificas eum? aut quid apponis erga eum cor tuum?
What [is] man that Thou dost magnify him? And that Thou settest unto him Thy heart?
18 Visitas eum diluculo, et subito probas illum:
And inspectest him in the mornings, In the evenings dost try him?
19 Usquequo non parcis mihi, nec dimittis me ut glutiam salivam meam?
How long dost Thou not look from me? Thou dost not desist till I swallow my spittle.
20 Peccavi, quid faciam tibi o custos hominum? quare posuisti me contrarium tibi, et factus sum mihimetipsi gravis?
I have sinned, what do I to Thee, O watcher of man? Why hast Thou set me for a mark to Thee, And I am for a burden to myself — and what?
21 Cur non tollis peccatum meum, et quare non aufers iniquitatem meam? ecce, nunc in pulvere dormiam: et si mane me quaesieris, non subsistam.
Thou dost not take away my transgression, And cause to pass away mine iniquity, Because now, for dust I lie down: And Thou hast sought me — and I am not!