Job 7

1 Militia est vita hominis super terram: et sicut dies mercenarii, dies eius.

Is not the life of man upon earth a state of trial? and his existence as that of a hireling by the day?

2 Sicut servus desiderat umbram, et sicut mercenarius præstolatur finem operis sui:

Or as a servant that fears his master, and one who has grasped a shadow? or as a hireling waiting for his pay?

3 Sic et ego habui menses vacuos, et noctes laboriosas enumeravi mihi.

So have I also endured months of vanity, and nights of pain have been appointed me.

4 Si dormiero, dicam: Quando consurgam? et rursum expectabo vesperam, et replebor doloribus usque ad tenebras.

Whenever I lie down, I say, When [will it be] day? and whenever I rise up, again [I say] when [will it be] evening? and I am full of pains from evening to morning.

5 Induta est caro mea putredine et sordibus pulveris, cutis mea aruit, et contracta est.

And my body is covered with loathsome worms; and I waste away, scraping off clods of dust from my eruption.

6 Dies mei velocius transierunt quam a texente tela succiditur, et consumpti sunt absque ulla spe.

And my life is lighter than a word, and has perished in vain hope.

7 Memento quia ventus est vita mea, et non revertetur oculus meus ut videat bona.

Remember then that my life is breath, and mine eye shalt not yet again see good.

8 Nec aspiciet me visus hominis: oculi tui in me, et non subsistam.

The eye of him that sees me shall not see me [again]: thine eyes are upon me, and I am no more.

9 Sicut consumitur nubes, et pertransit: sic qui descenderit ad inferos, non ascendet. (Sheol h7585)

[I am] as a cloud that is cleared away from the sky: for if a man go down to the grave, he shall not come up again: (Sheol h7585)

10 Nec revertetur ultra in domum suam, neque cognoscet eum amplius locus eius.

and he shall surely not return to his own house, neither shall his place know him any more.

11 Quapropter et ego non parcam ori meo, loquar in tribulatione spiritus mei: confabulabor cum amaritudine animæ meæ.

Then neither will I refrain my mouth: I will speak being in distress; being in anguish I will disclose the bitterness of my soul.

12 Numquid mare ego sum, aut cetus, quia circumdedisti me carcere?

Am I a sea, or a serpent, that thou hast set a watch over me?

13 Si dixero: Consolabitur me lectulus meus, et relevabor loquens mecum in strato meo:

I said that my bed should comfort me, and I would privately counsel with myself on my couch.

14 Terrebis me per somnia, et per visiones horrore concuties.

Thou scarest me with dreams, and dost terrify me with visions.

15 Quam ob rem elegit suspendium anima mea, et mortem ossa mea.

Thou wilt separate life from my spirit; and yet [keep] my bones from death.

16 Desperavi, nequaquam ultra iam vivam: parce mihi, nihil enim sunt dies mei.

For I shall not live for ever, that I should patiently endure: depart from me, for my life [is] vain.

17 Quid est homo, quia magnificas eum? aut quid apponis erga eum cor tuum?

For what is man, that thou hast magnified him? or that thou givest heed to him?

18 Visitas eum diluculo, et subito probas illum:

Wilt thou visit him till the morning, and judge him till [the time of] rest?

19 Usquequo non parcis mihi, nec dimittis me ut glutiam salivam meam?

How long dost thou not let me alone, nor let me go, until I shall swallow down my spittle?

20 Peccavi, quid faciam tibi o custos hominum? quare posuisti me contrarium tibi, et factus sum mihimetipsi gravis?

If I have sinned, what shall I be able to do, O thou that understandest the mind of men? why hast thou made me as thine accuser, and [why] am I a burden to thee?

21 Cur non tollis peccatum meum, et quare non aufers iniquitatem meam? ecce, nunc in pulvere dormiam: et si mane me quæsieris, non subsistam.

Why hast thou not forgotten my iniquity, and purged my sin? but now I shall depart to the earth; and in the morning I am no more.