Job 7
Nueva Biblia de las Américas
Miserias de la vida
7 »¿No está el hombre obligado a trabajar[a] sobre la tierra(A)?
¿No son sus días como los días de un jornalero(B)?
2 -»Como esclavo que suspira por la sombra,
Y como jornalero que espera con ansias su paga,
3 Así me han dado en herencia meses inútiles,
Y noches de aflicción me han asignado(C).
4 -»Cuando me acuesto, digo:
“¿Cuándo me levantaré?”.
Pero la noche sigue,
Y estoy dando[b] vueltas continuamente hasta el amanecer(D).
5 -»Mi carne está cubierta de gusanos y de una costra de tierra;
Mi piel se endurece y supura(E).
6 -»Mis días pasan más veloces que la lanzadera de telar(F),
Y llegan a su fin sin esperanza(G).
7 ¶»Recuerda, oh Dios, que mi vida es un soplo(H),
Mis ojos no volverán a ver el bien(I).
8 -»El ojo del que me ve no me verá más(J);
Tus ojos estarán sobre mí, pero yo no existiré(K).
9 -»Como una nube se desvanece y pasa(L),
Así el que desciende(M) al Seol[c](N) no subirá;
10 No volverá más a su casa,
Ni su lugar lo verá más(O).
11 ¶»Por tanto, no refrenaré mi boca,
Hablaré en la angustia de mi espíritu,
Me quejaré en la amargura de mi alma(P).
12 -»¿Soy yo el mar, o un monstruo marino(Q),
Para que Tú me pongas guardia?
13 -»Si digo: “Mi cama me consolará,
Mi lecho atenuará[d] mi queja(R)”,
14 Entonces Tú me asustas con sueños
Y me aterrorizas con visiones.
15 -»Mi alma, pues, escoge la asfixia,
La muerte, en lugar de mis dolores[e].
16 -»Languidezco[f]; no he de vivir para siempre(S).
Déjame solo, pues mis días son un soplo(T).
17 -»¿Qué es el hombre para que lo engrandezcas,
Para que te preocupes por[g] él(U),
18 Para que lo examines cada mañana,
Y a cada momento lo pongas a prueba(V)?
19 -»¿Nunca[h] apartarás de mí Tu mirada,
Ni me dejarás solo(W) hasta que trague mi saliva?
20 -»¿He pecado(X)? ¿Qué te he hecho,
Oh guardián de los hombres(Y)?
¿Por qué has hecho de mí Tu blanco,
De modo que soy una carga para mí mismo?
21 -»Entonces, ¿por qué no perdonas mi transgresión
Y quitas mi iniquidad(Z)?
Porque ahora dormiré en el polvo(AA);
Y Tú me buscarás, pero ya no existiré(AB)».
Job 7
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 7
A Life of Exhausting Service[a]
1 “Is not man’s life on earth an exhausting one,
and are not his days like those of a hired laborer?
2 Like a slave who sighs for the evening shade
and like a laborer who is bent upon his wages,
3 so have I been forced to endure months of futility,
and nights of grief have been inflicted on me.
4 “When I lie in bed, I wonder,
‘When will the daylight come so that I may rise?’
But the night drags on,
and I toss restlessly until the dawn.
5 My body is infected with worms and scabs;
my skin is cracked and festering.
My Life Is But a Breath[b]
6 “My days pass more swiftly than a weaver’s shuttle,
and they come to an end without a glimmer of hope.
7 “Remember that my life is but a breath of wind;
my eyes will never again see happiness.
8 The eye that now sees me will see me no more;
I will vanish before your very eyes.
9 As a cloud vanishes and is no more,
so the one who descends to the netherworld[c] will never come up again.
10 He will never again return to his home,
nor will he be remembered anymore.
11 “Therefore, I will not restrain my mouth.
I will speak out in my anguish of spirit,
and I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I a monster of the deep, or a sea serpent,
that you place me under guard?[d]
13 When I say, ‘I will find comfort in my bed,
and my couch will soothe my complaints,’
14 you then frighten me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,
15 so that I would prefer to be strangled
and to endure death rather than my sufferings.
16 My life is ebbing away; I cannot live forever.
Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
A Continual Testing[e]
17 “What is man, that you make so much of him
or pay him any mind?
18 You examine him every morning
and test him every moment of the day.
19 “Will you never take your eyes from me,
or let me alone long enough to swallow my saliva?
20 If I have sinned, what harm have I done to you,
O watcher of humanity?
Why have you designated me to be your target?
Why have I become a burden to you?[f]
21 Why do you not pardon my offenses
and forgive my iniquity?
For soon I will lie down in the dust;
you will search for me, but I will be no more.”
Footnotes
- Job 7:1 The lot of the sick seems to be one of exhausting service comprising interminable days and nights of suffering.
- Job 7:6 Regret for the happiness that has vanished too soon and fear of the netherworld haunt the sick man. He feels that he is, so to speak, hunted by God.
- Job 7:9 Netherworld: this is the first explicit allusion to the great subterranean pit where the dead are gathered together. Job speaks of it according to the opinion in his day. It is no longer the sojourn of repose (Job 3:13-19), but a place from which one “will never again return,” or where one is separated from his home, his family, and even his God.
- Job 7:12 This is a very poetic and Semitic way of representing the dominion of God over the forces of the universe.
- Job 7:17 Unlike the psalmist (Pss 8:5; 139:13-14, 23-24), Job cannot rejoice at the special attention God pays to human beings. This divine scrutiny shakes his conviction of innocence.
- Job 7:20 Burden to you: many Hebrew manuscripts have: “burden to myself.”
Job 7
New King James Version
Job: My Suffering Is Comfortless
7 “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?
2 Like a servant who [a]earnestly desires the shade,
And like a hired man who eagerly looks for his wages,
3 So I have been allotted (B)months of futility,
And wearisome nights have been appointed to me.
4 (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.
5 My flesh is (D)caked with worms and dust,
My skin is cracked and breaks out afresh.
6 “My(E) days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
And are spent without hope.
7 Oh, remember that (F)my life is a breath!
My eye will never again see good.
8 (G)The eye of him who sees me will see me no more;
While your eyes are upon me, I shall no longer be.
9 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.”
Nueva Biblia de las Américas™ NBLA™ Copyright © 2005 por The Lockman Foundation
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
