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.
約伯記 7
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
7 「人生在世豈不像服勞役嗎？
他有生之年豈不像個雇工嗎？
2 他像切望陰涼的奴隸，
又如盼望報酬的雇工。
3 同樣，我註定要度過虛空的歲月，
熬過悲慘的黑夜。
4 我躺在床上，想著何時起來。
長夜漫漫，我輾轉難眠，直到拂曉。
5 我身上佈滿蛆蟲、傷疤，
皮膚破裂，流膿不止。
6 我的年日飛逝，比梭還快，
轉眼結束，毫無盼望。
7 「上帝啊，別忘了我的生命不過是一口氣，
我再也看不見幸福。
8 注視我的眼睛將再也看不見我，
你將尋找我，而我已不復存在。
9 人死後一去不返，
就像煙消雲散；
10 他永不再返回家園，
故土也不再認識他。
11 「因此我不再緘默不語，
我要吐露胸中的悲愁，
傾訴心裡的苦楚。
12 上帝啊，我豈是大海，豈是海怪，
值得你這樣防範我？
13 我以為床鋪是我的安慰，
臥榻可解除我的哀愁，
14 你卻用噩夢驚我，
用異象嚇我，
15 以致我寧願窒息而死，
也不願這樣活著。
16 我厭惡生命，不想永活。
不要管我，因為我的日子都是虛空。
17 「人算什麼，你竟這樣看重他，
這樣關注他？
18 你天天早上察看他，
時時刻刻考驗他。
19 你的視線何時離開我，
給我嚥口唾沫的時間？
20 鑒察世人的主啊，
我若犯了罪，又於你何妨？
為何把我當成你的箭靶？
難道我成了你的重擔？
21 為何不赦免我的過犯，
饒恕我的罪惡？
我很快將歸於塵土，
你將尋找我，
而我已不復存在。」
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