Job 7
1 Militia est vita hominis super terram: et sicut dies mercenarii, dies eius.
Does not man have hard labor on earth? Are not his days like the days of a hired man?
2 Sicut servus desiderat umbram, et sicut mercenarius præstolatur finem operis sui:
Like a slave earnestly desires the shadows of evening, like a hired man looks for his wages—
3 Sic et ego habui menses vacuos, et noctes laboriosas enumeravi mihi.
so I have been made to endure months of misery; I have been given trouble-filled nights.
4 Si dormiero, dicam: Quando consurgam? et rursum expectabo vesperam, et replebor doloribus usque ad tenebras.
When I lie down, I say to myself, 'When will I get up and when will the night be gone?' I am full of tossing to and fro until the day's dawning.
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; the sores in my skin harden up and then dissolve and run afresh.
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; they pass without hope.
7 Memento quia ventus est vita mea, et non revertetur oculus meus ut videat bona.
God, call to mind that my life is only a breath; my eye will no more see good.
8 Nec aspiciet me visus hominis: oculi tui in me, et non subsistam.
The eye of God, who sees me, will see me no more; God's eyes will be on me, but I will not exist.
9 Sicut consumitur nubes, et pertransit: sic qui descenderit ad inferos, non ascendet. (Sheol h7585)
As a cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to Sheol will come up no more. (Sheol h7585)
10 Nec revertetur ultra in domum suam, neque cognoscet eum amplius locus eius.
He will return no more to his house; neither will 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 the sea or a sea monster that you place a guard over me?
13 Si dixero: Consolabitur me lectulus meus, et relevabor loquens mecum in strato meo:
When I say, 'My bed will comfort me, and my couch will ease my complaint,'
14 Terrebis me per somnia, et per visiones horrore concuties.
then you scare me with dreams and terrify me through visions,
15 Quam ob rem elegit suspendium anima mea, et mortem ossa mea.
so that I would choose strangling and death rather than preserving these bones of mine.
16 Desperavi, nequaquam ultra iam vivam: parce mihi, nihil enim sunt dies mei.
I loathe my life; I would not wish to always be alive; let me alone for my days are useless.
17 Quid est homo, quia magnificas eum? aut quid apponis erga eum cor tuum?
What is man that you should pay attention to him, that you should set your mind on him,
18 Visitas eum diluculo, et subito probas illum:
that you should observe him every morning and test him every moment?
19 Usquequo non parcis mihi, nec dimittis me ut glutiam salivam meam?
How long will it be before you look away from me, before you let me alone long enough for me to swallow down my own saliva?
20 Peccavi, quid faciam tibi o custos hominum? quare posuisti me contrarium tibi, et factus sum mihimetipsi gravis?
Even if I have sinned, what would that do to you, you who watch men? Why have you made a target of me, so that I am a burden for you?
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 do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now will I lie down in the dust; you will seek me carefully, but I will not exist.”
