Add parallel Print Page Options

“How mankind must struggle. A man’s life is long and hard, like that of a slave. How he longs for the day to end. How he grinds on to the end of the week and his wages. And so to me also have been allotted months of frustration, these long and weary nights. When I go to bed I think, ‘Oh, that it were morning,’ and then I toss till dawn.

“My skin is filled with worms and blackness. My flesh breaks open, full of pus. My life drags by—day after hopeless day. My life is but a breath, and nothing good is left. You see me now, but not for long. Soon you’ll look upon me dead. As a cloud disperses and vanishes, so those who die shall go away forever— 10 gone forever from their family and their home—never to be seen again. 11 Ah, let me express my anguish. Let me be free to speak out of the bitterness of my soul.

12 “O God, am I some monster that you never leave me alone? 13-14 Even when I try to forget my misery in sleep, you terrify with nightmares. 15 I would rather die of strangulation than go on and on like this. 16 I hate my life. Oh, leave me alone for these few remaining days. 17 What is mere man that you should spend your time persecuting him? 18 Must you be his inquisitor every morning and test him every moment of the day? 19 Why won’t you leave me alone—even long enough to spit?

20 “Has my sin harmed you, O God, watcher of mankind? Why have you made me your target, and made my life so heavy a burden to me? 21 Why not just pardon my sin and take it all away? For all too soon I’ll lie down in the dust and die, and when you look for me, I shall be gone.”

人生在世多有愁苦

“人在世上怎能没有劳役呢?

他的日子不像雇工的日子吗?

正如仆人切慕暮影,

又像雇工盼望工价。

照样,我有空虚的岁月,

也有劳苦的黑夜为我派定。

我躺下的时候,就说:

‘我甚么时候起来?’

然而,长夜漫漫,我辗转反侧,直到黎明。

我的肉体以虫子和土块为衣裳,

我的皮肤裂开又流脓。

我过的日子比梭还要快,

在毫无盼望之中而结束。

求你记念我的性命不过是一口气,

我的眼必不再看见福乐。

看我的,他的眼再也看不到我,

你的眼要看我,我已经不在了。

云彩怎样消散逝去,

照样,人下阴间也不再上来。

10 他不再回自己的家,

故乡再也不认识他。

11 因此,我不再禁止我的口,

我要说出灵里的忧愁,

倾诉心中的痛苦。

埋怨 神待他过严

12 我岂是海洋或是海怪,

你竟然设守卫防备我?

13 我若说:‘我的床必安慰我,

我的榻必减轻我的苦情’,

14 你就用梦惊扰我,

又用异象惊吓我,

15 以致我宁可窒息而死,

也不肯保留我这一身的骨头。

16 我厌恶自己,不愿永远活下去。

任凭我吧,因为我的日子都是空虚的。

17 人算甚么,你竟看他为大,

又把他放在心上;

18 每天早晨你都鉴察他,

每时每刻你也试验他。

19 你到甚么时候才转眼不看我,

任凭我咽下唾沫呢?

20 鉴察世人的主啊!

我若犯了罪,跟你有甚么关系呢?

你为甚么把我当作箭靶,

使我以自己为重担呢?

21 你为甚么不赦免我的过犯,

除去我的罪孽呢?

现在我快要躺卧在尘土中,

那时你寻找我,我却不在了。”

“Do not mortals have hard service(A) on earth?(B)
    Are not their days like those of hired laborers?(C)
Like a slave longing for the evening shadows,(D)
    or a hired laborer waiting to be paid,(E)
so I have been allotted months of futility,
    and nights of misery have been assigned to me.(F)
When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’(G)
    The night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.(H)
My body is clothed with worms(I) and scabs,
    my skin is broken and festering.(J)

“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,(K)
    and they come to an end without hope.(L)
Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath;(M)
    my eyes will never see happiness again.(N)
The eye that now sees me will see me no longer;
    you will look for me, but I will be no more.(O)
As a cloud vanishes(P) and is gone,
    so one who goes down to the grave(Q) does not return.(R)
10 He will never come to his house again;
    his place(S) will know him no more.(T)

11 “Therefore I will not keep silent;(U)
    I will speak out in the anguish(V) of my spirit,
    I will complain(W) in the bitterness of my soul.(X)
12 Am I the sea,(Y) or the monster of the deep,(Z)
    that you put me under guard?(AA)
13 When I think my bed will comfort me
    and my couch will ease my complaint,(AB)
14 even then you frighten me with dreams
    and terrify(AC) me with visions,(AD)
15 so that I prefer strangling and death,(AE)
    rather than this body of mine.(AF)
16 I despise my life;(AG) I would not live forever.(AH)
    Let me alone;(AI) my days have no meaning.(AJ)

17 “What is mankind that you make so much of them,
    that you give them so much attention,(AK)
18 that you examine them every morning(AL)
    and test them(AM) every moment?(AN)
19 Will you never look away from me,(AO)
    or let me alone even for an instant?(AP)
20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you,(AQ)
    you who see everything we do?
Why have you made me your target?(AR)
    Have I become a burden to you?[a](AS)
21 Why do you not pardon my offenses
    and forgive my sins?(AT)
For I will soon lie down in the dust;(AU)
    you will search for me, but I will be no more.”(AV)

Footnotes

  1. Job 7:20 A few manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition and Septuagint; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text I have become a burden to myself.