Job 7
Legacy Standard Bible
7 “[a]Is not man (A)conscripted to labor on earth,
And are not his days like the days of (B)a hired man?
2 As a slave who pants for the shade,
And as a hired man who eagerly hopes for his wages,
3 So am I apportioned months of worthlessness,
And (C)nights of trouble are appointed me.
4 If I (D)lie down I say,
‘When shall I arise?’
But the twilight continues,
And I am saturated with tossing until dawn.
5 My (E)flesh is clothed with worms and a crust of dirt;
My skin scabs over and flows out again.
6 My days are (F)swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
And come to an end (G)without hope.
7 “Remember that my life (H)is but wind;
My eye will (I)not again see good.
8 The (J)eye of him who sees me will behold me no longer;
Your eyes will be on me, but (K)I will not be.
9 A (L)cloud vanishes, and it is gone,
So (M)he who goes down to (N)Sheol does not come up.
10 He will not return again to his house,
Nor will (O)his place recognize him anymore.
11 “Indeed (P)I will not hold back my mouth;
I will speak in the distress of my spirit;
I will muse on the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I the sea or (Q)the sea monster,
That You set a guard over me?
13 If I say, ‘(R)My bed will comfort me;
My couch will [b]ease my bitter musing,’
14 Then You frighten me with dreams
And terrify me by visions,
15 So that my soul would choose suffocation,
Death rather than my [c]pains.
16 I have (S)rejected everything; I will not live forever.
Leave me alone, (T)for my days are but a breath.
17 (U)What is man that You magnify him,
And that You set Your heart on him,
18 That (V)You [d]examine him every morning
And test him every moment?
19 [e](W)Will You never turn Your gaze away from me,
Nor let me alone until I swallow my spit?
20 (X)Have I sinned? What have I done to You,
O (Y)watcher of men?
Why have You set me as Your target,
So that I am a burden to myself?
21 Why then (Z)do You not forgive my transgression
And take away my iniquity?
For now I will (AA)lie down in the dust;
And You will seek me earnestly, (AB)but I will not be.”
Job 7
Evangelical Heritage Version
7 Isn’t man’s time on earth like being compelled to serve in the army? Aren’t his days like those of a hired man?
2 Like a slave, he longs for shade,
or like a day laborer, he waits for his pay.
3 In the same way, I have been allotted months of futility,
and nights of agony have been assigned to me.
4 When I lie down, I think, “How long before I get up?”
But the night drags on,
and I am filled with restlessness until dawn.
5 My flesh is clothed with maggots and caked with dirt.
My skin scabs over and then oozes again.
6 My days pass by more swiftly than the shuttle of a weaver’s loom.
They come to an end without hope.
Job Addresses God
7 Remember that my life is just a breath.[a]
My eyes will never again see good fortune.
8 The eyes that see me now will no longer watch me.
Your eyes will look for me, but I will not be there.
9 As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
so does the one who goes down to the grave.[b]
He does not come back up again.
10 He never again returns to his home,
and his place will no longer know him.
11 That is why I will not restrain my mouth.
I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit.
I will lament in the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I the sea or a great creature of the deep
that you need to put me under guard?
13 When I say that my bed will comfort me,
and my couch will help me with my lament,
14 then you frighten me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,
15 so I would prefer to be strangled,
and I prefer death more than my current existence.[c]
16 I reject my life. I do not want to live forever.
Leave me alone, for my days are just a vanishing vapor.
17 What is man that you make so much of him,
that you pay so much attention to him,
18 that you inspect[d] him every morning
and test him every minute?
19 Why do you never stop watching me?
Why don’t you leave me alone long enough for me to swallow my spit?
20 If I have sinned, what harm has it done to you,
you who keep watch on mankind?
Why have you set me up as your target?
How have I become a burden to you?[e]
21 Why do you not forgive my rebellion?
Why do you not take away my guilt?
Soon I will lie down in the dust.
You will search for me, but I will not be there.
Footnotes
- Job 7:7 This verse begins a new section of Job’s speech. For the rest of the chapter, Job is no longer speaking to Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, but directly to God. This happens often in Job’s speeches.
- Job 7:9 Hebrew sheol
- Job 7:15 Literally than my bones
- Job 7:18 Or scrutinize
- Job 7:20 To you is an alternate reading of the Hebrew text. The main Hebrew text reads to me.
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The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.