Job: My Suffering Is Comfortless

Is there not (A)a time of hard service for man on earth?
Are not his days also like the days of a hired man?
Like a servant who [a]earnestly desires the shade,
And like a hired man who eagerly looks for his wages,
So I have been allotted (B)months of futility,
And wearisome nights have been appointed to me.
(C)When I lie down, I say, ‘When shall I arise,
And the night be ended?’
For I have had my fill of tossing till dawn.
My flesh is (D)caked with worms and dust,
My skin is cracked and breaks out afresh.

“My(E) days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
And are spent without hope.
Oh, remember that (F)my life is a breath!
My eye will never again see good.
(G)The eye of him who sees me will see me no more;
While your eyes are upon me, I shall no longer be.
As the cloud disappears and vanishes away,
So (H)he who goes down to the grave does not come up.
10 He shall never return to his house,
(I)Nor shall his place know him anymore.

11 “Therefore I will (J)not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will (K)complain in the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I a sea, or a sea serpent,
That You set a guard over me?
13 (L)When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
My couch will ease my complaint,’
14 Then You scare me with dreams
And terrify me with visions,
15 So that my soul chooses strangling
And death rather than [b]my body.
16 (M)I loathe my life;
I would not live forever.
(N)Let me alone,
For (O)my days are but [c]a breath.

17 “What(P) is man, that You should exalt him,
That You should set Your heart on him,
18 That You should [d]visit him every morning,
And test him every moment?
19 How long?
Will You not look away from me,
And let me alone till I swallow my saliva?
20 Have I sinned?
What have I done to You, (Q)O watcher of men?
Why (R)have You set me as Your target,
So that I am a burden [e]to myself?
21 Why then do You not pardon my transgression,
And take away my iniquity?
For now I will lie down in the dust,
And You will seek me diligently,
But I will no longer be.

Footnotes

  1. Job 7:2 Lit. pants for
  2. Job 7:15 Lit. my bones
  3. Job 7:16 Without substance, futile
  4. Job 7:18 attend to
  5. Job 7:20 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX, Jewish tradition to You

Is there not a [a]warfare to man upon earth?
And are not his days like the days of a hireling?
As a servant that earnestly desireth the shadow,
And as a hireling that looketh for his wages:
So am I made to possess months of misery,
And wearisome nights are appointed to me.
When I lie down, I say,
When shall I arise, and the night be gone?
And I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.
My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust;
My skin [b]closeth up, and breaketh out afresh.
My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
And are spent without hope.
Oh remember that my life is a breath:
Mine eye shall no more see good.
The eye of him that seeth me shall behold me no more;
Thine eyes shall be upon me, but I shall not be.
As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away,
So he that goeth down to Sheol shall come up no more.
10 He shall return no more to his house,
Neither shall his place know him any more.

11 Therefore I will not refrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I a sea, or a sea-monster,
That thou settest a watch over me?
13 When I say, My bed shall comfort me,
My couch shall ease my complaint;
14 Then thou scarest me with dreams,
And terrifiest me through visions:
15 So that my soul chooseth strangling,
And death rather than these my bones.
16 [c]I loathe my life; I [d]would not live alway:
Let me alone; for my days are [e]vanity.
17 What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him,
And that thou shouldest set thy mind upon him,
18 And that thou shouldest visit him every morning,
And try him every moment?
19 How long wilt thou not look away from me,
Nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?
20 If I have sinned, what [f]do I unto thee, O thou [g]watcher of men?
Why hast thou set me as a mark for thee,
So that I am a burden to myself?
21 And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity?
For now shall I lie down in the dust;
And thou wilt seek me diligently, but I shall not be.

Footnotes

  1. Job 7:1 Or, time of service
  2. Job 7:5 Or, is broken and become loathsome
  3. Job 7:16 Or, I waste away
  4. Job 7:16 Or, shall
  5. Job 7:16 Or, as a breath
  6. Job 7:20 Or, can I do
  7. Job 7:20 Or, preserver