Job 7

“Do not mortals have hard service^x on earth?^y

Are not their days like those of hired laborers?^z

Like a slave longing for the evening shadows,^a

or a hired laborer waiting to be paid,^b

so I have been allotted months of futility,

and nights of misery have been assigned to me.^c

When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’^d

The night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.^e

My body is clothed with worms^f and scabs,

my skin is broken and festering.^g

“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,^h

and they come to an end without hope.ⁱ

Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath;^j

my eyes will never see happiness again.^k

The eye that now sees me will see me no longer;

you will look for me, but I will be no more.^l

As a cloud vanishes^m and is gone,

so those who go down to the graveⁿ do not return.^o

They will never come to their homes again;

their places^p will know them no more.^q

“Therefore I will not keep silent;^r

I will speak out in the anguish^s of my spirit,

I will complain^t in the bitterness of my soul.^u

Am I the sea,^v or the monster of the deep,^w

that you put me under guard?^x

When I think my bed will comfort me

and my couch will ease my complaint,^y

even then you frighten me with dreams

and terrify^z me with visions,^a

so that I prefer strangling and death,^b

rather than this body of mine.^c

I despise my life;^d I would not live forever.^e

Let me alone;^f my days have no meaning.^g

“What are human beings that you make so much of them,

that you give them so much attention,^h

that you examine them every morningⁱ

and test them^j every moment?^k

Will you never look away from me,^l

or let me alone even for an instant?^m

If I have sinned, what have I done to you,ⁿ

you who watch over us all?

Why have you made me your target?^o

Have I become a burden to you?^p

Why do you not pardon my offenses

and forgive my sins?^q

For I will soon lie down in the dust;^r

you will search for me, but I will be no more.”^s