Job 7
1 militia est vita hominis super terram et sicut dies mercennarii dies eius
“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 mercennarius praestolatur 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 dico 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].
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 eius
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 animae meae
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 sum ego 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 iam 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 quia ponis 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 parces mihi nec dimittis me ut gluttiam 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 mihimet ipsi 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 tolles peccatum meum et quare non auferes iniquitatem meam ecce nunc in pulvere dormiam et si mane me quaesieris 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.”
