Job 7
1 “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.
Does not man have hard labor on earth? Are not his days like the days of a hired man?
2 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.
Like a slave earnestly desires the shadows of evening, like a hired man looks for his wages—
3 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.
so I have been made to endure months of misery; I have been given trouble-filled nights.
4 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.
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 My body is covered with maggots and scabs; pus oozes out of my open sores.
My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; the sores in my skin harden up and then dissolve and run afresh.
6 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].
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle; they pass without hope.
7 God, do not forget that my life is [as short as] a breath [MET]; I [think that] I [SYN] will never again be happy.
God, call to mind that my life is only a breath; my eye will no more see good.
8 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].
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 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)
As a cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to Sheol will come up no more. (Sheol h7585)
10 they never return to their houses, and people among whom they lived do not remember them any more.
He will return no more to his house; neither will his place know him again.
11 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.
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 [God, ] why do you watch closely what I am doing? [Do you think that] I am a [dangerous] sea monster?
Am I the sea or a sea monster that you place a guard over me?
13 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.’
When I say, 'My bed will comfort me, and my couch will ease my complaint,'
14 But then you give me dreams that cause me to be afraid; you give me visions that terrify me,
then you scare me with dreams and terrify me through visions,
15 with the result that I would prefer to be strangled to death than to continue to [be alive] being only a bunch of bones.
so that I would choose strangling and death rather than preserving these bones of mine.
16 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].
I loathe my life; I would not wish to always be alive; let me alone for my days are useless.
17 “We human beings are not [very important]; so, why do you pay a lot of attention to us [DOU]?
What is man that you should pay attention to him, that you should set your mind on him,
18 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].
that you should observe him every morning and test him every moment?
19 (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]
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 [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?
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 [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.”
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.”
