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.”
Job 7
EasyEnglish Bible
Job continues to speak
7 People have to work very hard on this earth.
They have to work every day, like servants.
2 A servant waits for the end of the day so that he can rest.
A worker waits for his master to pay him.
3 But there is nothing for me to wait for.
I wait for many months and nothing happens.
Every night, I am always sad.
4 When I lie down at night to sleep,
I think, “How soon will the night end?”
But the night continues and I cannot sleep.
Finally, dawn comes.
5 There are worms all over my body.
All of my skin is painful.
There are dirty sores all over it.
6 My life is passing very fast.
Each day passes too quickly to see it!
The days of my life will finish,
and I cannot hope for anything to get better.
7 Remember, God, that my life is as short as a breath.
I know that I will never be happy again.
8 People who can see me now will not see me any more.
You will look for me, but I will not be there.
9 Clouds disappear and you never see them again.
That is like people who die and go into their graves.
They do not come back again.
10 They do not come back to live in their homes.
People forget about them.
11 So I must continue to speak.
I will tell you how upset I am.
I am angry because of what has happened to me.
So I must complain.
12 Why do you have to watch me, God, like a guard?
Do you think that I am a dangerous monster from the sea?
13 When I lie down to sleep,
I hope that my pain will be less.
14 But even then you give me dreams that frighten me.
I have visions which make me very afraid.
15 I would like someone to stop me breathing!
Death would be better than life.
16 My life is useless.
I do not want to live for ever.
My life is only a short breath.
So let me be alone.
17 Why do you think that people are important?
Why do you watch us so carefully?
18 You never leave us alone.
You test us every moment of every day.
19 You never look the other way.
You never leave me alone, even for a moment.
20 You carefully watch what people do.
Even if I have done something wrong,
it should not cause any trouble for you.
So why do you choose to punish me?
21 You should agree to forgive my sins.
You should say that I am not guilty.
I will soon die and I will go into my grave.
Then you will carefully look for me,
but I will not be there.’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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