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Job’s Second Speech: A Response to Eliphaz

“Does not a human being[a] have hard service[b] on earth?
And are not his[c] days like the days of a laborer?
Like a slave he longs for the shadow,
and like a laborer he waits for his wages.
So I had to inherit[d] months of worthlessness,
and nights of misery are apportioned to me.
When I lie down, I say,[e] ‘When shall I rise?’
But[f] the night is long,
and I have my fill of tossing until dawn.
My body is clothed with maggots and clods of dust;
my skin hardens, then[g] it gives way again.

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Footnotes

  1. Job 7:1 Or a collective singular, “human beings”
  2. Job 7:1 Literally “hard service for a human being”
  3. Job 7:1 Or a collective singular, “their”
  4. Job 7:3 Literally “I am allotted to me”
  5. Job 7:4 Hebrew “and I say”
  6. Job 7:4 Hebrew “And”
  7. Job 7:5 Hebrew “and”

Isn’t mankind consigned to forced labor(A) on earth?
Are not his days like those of a hired hand?
Like a slave he longs for shade;
like a hired man he waits for his pay.
So I have been made to inherit months of futility,
and troubled nights have been assigned to me.(B)
When I lie down I think:
When will I get up?
But the evening drags on endlessly,
and I toss and turn until dawn.
My flesh is clothed with maggots and encrusted with dirt.[a]
My skin forms scabs[b] and then oozes.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. Job 7:5 Or and dirty scabs
  2. Job 7:5 Lit skin hardens