Job 7
Lexham English Bible
Job’s Second Speech: A Response to Eliphaz
7 “Does not a human being[a] have hard service[b] on earth?
And are not his[c] days like the days of a laborer?
2 Like a slave he longs for the shadow,
and like a laborer he waits for his wages.
3 So I had to inherit[d] months of worthlessness,
and nights of misery are apportioned to me.
4 When I lie down, I say,[e] ‘When shall I rise?’
But[f] the night is long,
and I have my fill of tossing until dawn.
5 My body is clothed with maggots and clods of dust;
my skin hardens, then[g] it gives way again.
6 “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
and they come to an end without hope.[h]
7 Remember that my life is a breath;
my eye will not return to see good.
8 The eye of the one seeing me will not see me;
your eyes are upon me, but[i] I will be gone.[j]
9 A cloud vanishes, and it goes away,
so he who goes down to Sheol will not come up.
10 He does not return again to his house,
and his place does not recognize him again.
11 “Even[k] I will not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in my spirit’s anguish;
I will complain in my inner self’s[l] bitterness.
12 Am I the sea, or a sea monster,
that you set a guard over me?
13 When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
and my couch[m] will ease my complaint,’
14 then[n] you terrify me with dreams,[o]
and with visions you terrify[p] me.
15 So[q] my inner self[r] will choose[s] strangling—
death more than my existence.[t]
16 I loathe my life; I would not live forever;
depart from me, for my days are a breath.
17 “What is a human being that you make him great
and that you fix your mind on him,[u]
18 so that[v] you visit him every morning,[w]
you test him every moment?[x]
19 How long[y] will you not turn away from me?
Or not leave me alone until I swallow[z] my spit?
20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you, watcher of humanity?
Why have you made me as a target for yourself,
so that[aa] I have become a burden to myself?[ab]
21 And why do you not pardon my transgression
and take away my guilt?
For now I shall lie in the dust,
and you will seek me, but[ac] I will be no more.”[ad]
Footnotes
- Job 7:1 Or a collective singular, “human beings”
- Job 7:1 Literally “hard service for a human being”
- Job 7:1 Or a collective singular, “their”
- Job 7:3 Literally “I am allotted to me”
- Job 7:4 Hebrew “and I say”
- Job 7:4 Hebrew “And”
- Job 7:5 Hebrew “and”
- Job 7:6 Literally “with nothing hope”
- Job 7:8 Hebrew “and”
- Job 7:8 Literally “there is not me,” or “I am not”
- Job 7:11 Or “I on my part”
- Job 7:11 Or “soul’s”
- Job 7:13 Or “bed”
- Job 7:14 Hebrew “and”
- Job 7:14 Or “the dreams”
- Job 7:14 Or “dishearten,” or “frighten”
- Job 7:15 Or “And”
- Job 7:15 Or “soul”
- Job 7:15 Or “I will choose”
- Job 7:15 Literally “bones”
- Job 7:17 Literally “you set on him your heart”
- Job 7:18 Hebrew “and”
- Job 7:18 Literally “for mornings,” or “at mornings”
- Job 7:18 Literally “for moments,” or “at moments”
- Job 7:19 Literally “Like what”
- Job 7:19 Or “my swallowing”
- Job 7:20 Hebrew “and”
- Job 7:20 Some translations translate as “you” (e.g., ESV, NRSV, NIV, NET)
- Job 7:21 Hebrew “and”
- Job 7:21 Literally “there is not me,” or “I am not”
Job 7
Common English Bible
The human condition
7 Isn’t slavery everyone’s condition on earth,
our days like those of a hired worker?
2 Like a slave we pant for a shadow,
await our task like a hired worker.
3 So I have inherited months of emptiness;
nights of toil have been measured out for me.
4 If I lie down and think—When will I get up?—
night drags on,[a] and restless thoughts fill me until dawn.
5 My flesh is covered with worms and crusted earth;
my skin hardens and oozes.
6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle;
they reach their end without hope.[b]
7 Remember that my life is wind;
my eyes won’t see pleasure again.
8 The eye that sees me now will no longer look on me;
your eyes will be on me, and I won’t exist.
9 A cloud breaks apart and moves on—
like the one who descends to the grave[c] and won’t rise,
10 won’t return home again,
won’t be recognized in town anymore.
Job wants to be left alone
11 But I won’t keep quiet;
I will speak in the adversity of my spirit,
groan in the bitterness of my life.
12 Am I Sea[d] or the Sea Monster[e]
that you place me under guard?
13 If I say, “My couch will comfort me,”
my bed will diminish my murmuring.
14 You scare me with dreams,
frighten me with visions.
15 I would choose strangling
and death instead of my bones.
16 I reject life;[f] I don’t want to live long;
leave me alone, for my days are empty.
A parody of Psalm 8
17 What are human beings, that you exalt them,
that you take note of them,
18 visit them each morning,
test them every moment?
19 Why not look away from me;
let me alone until I swallow my spit?
20 If I sinned, what did I do to you,
guardian of people?
Why have you made me your target
so that I’m a burden to myself?
21 Why not forgive my sin,
overlook my iniquity?
Then I would lie down in the dust;
you would search hard for me,
and I would not exist.
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