Job 7

7Isn’t mankind consigned to forced labor ^kon earth?

Are not his days like those of a hired hand?

²Like a slave he longs for shade;

like a hired man he waits for his pay.

³So I have been made to inherit months of futility,

and troubled nights have been assigned to me. ^l

⁴When I lie down I think:

When will I get up?

But the evening drags on endlessly,

and I toss and turn until dawn.

⁵My flesh is clothed with maggots and encrusted with dirt. ^m

My skin forms scabs ⁿand then oozes. ^o

⁶My days pass more swiftly than a weaver’s shuttle;

they come to an end without hope. ^p

⁷Remember that my life is but a breath.

My eye will never again see anything good. ^q

⁸The eye of anyone who looks on me

will no longer see me.

Your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone. ^r

⁹As a cloud fades away and vanishes,

so the one who goes down to Sheol ^swill never rise again.

¹⁰He will never return to his house;

his hometown will no longer remember ^thim. ^u

¹¹Therefore I will not restrain my mouth.

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;

I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

¹²Am I the sea ^vwor a sea monster, ^x

that You keep me under guard?

¹³When I say: My bed will comfort me,

and my couch will ease my complaint,

¹⁴then You frighten me with dreams,

and terrify me with visions, ^y

¹⁵so that I prefer strangling ^z—

death rather than life in this body. ^ab

¹⁶I give up! I will not live forever.

Leave me alone, ^cfor my days are a breath. ^d

¹⁷What is man, that You think so highly of him

and pay so much attention to him? ^e

¹⁸You inspect him every morning,

and put him to the test every moment. ^f

¹⁹Will You ever look away from me,

or leave me alone long enough to swallow? ^g

²⁰If I have sinned, what have I done to You,

Watcher of mankind?

Why have You made me Your target, ^h

so that I have become a burden to You? ⁱ

²¹Why not forgive my sin

and pardon my transgression? ^j

For soon I will lie down in the grave. ^k

You will eagerly seek me, but I will be gone. ^l