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.
Is there not a warfare to man on earth? And as the days of an hireling his days?
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.
As a servant desireth the shadow, And as a hireling expecteth his wage,
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 caused to inherit months of vanity, And nights of misery they numbered to me.
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.
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 My body is covered with maggots and scabs; pus oozes out of my open sores.
Clothed hath been my flesh [with] worms, And a clod of dust, My skin hath been shrivelled and is loathsome,
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 swifter than a weaving machine, And they are consumed 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.
Remember Thou that my life [is] a breath, Mine eye turneth not back to 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 my beholder beholdeth me not. Thine eyes [are] upon me — and I am not.
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)
Consumed hath been a cloud, and it goeth, So he who is going down to Sheol cometh not up. (Sheol h7585)
10 they never return to their houses, and people among whom they lived do not remember them any more.
He turneth not again to his house, Nor doth his place discern 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.
Also I — I withhold not my mouth — I speak in the distress of my spirit, I talk 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?
A sea -[monster] am I, or a dragon, That thou settest over me a guard?
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 said, 'My bed doth comfort me,' He taketh away in my talking my couch.
14 But then you give me dreams that cause me to be afraid; you give me visions that terrify me,
And thou hast affrighted me with dreams, And from visions thou terrifiest me,
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.
And my soul chooseth strangling, Death rather than my bones.
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 have wasted away — not to the age do I live. Cease from me, for my days [are] vanity.
17 “We human beings are not [very important]; so, why do you pay a lot of attention to us [DOU]?
What [is] man that Thou dost magnify him? And that Thou settest unto him Thy heart?
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].
And inspectest him in the mornings, In the evenings dost try him?
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 dost Thou not look from me? Thou dost not desist till I swallow my spittle.
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?
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 [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.”
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!
