Chapter 7

Job’s Life Seems Futile

1 “1Is not man aforced to labor on earth,

And are not his days like the days of ba hired man?

2 “As a slave who pants for the shade,

And as a hired man who eagerly waits for his wages,

3 So am I allotted months of vanity,

And anights of trouble are appointed me.

4 “When I alie down I say,

‘When shall I arise?’

But the night continues,

And I am 1continually tossing until dawn.

5 “My aflesh is clothed with worms and a crust of dirt,

My skin hardens and runs.

6 “My days are aswifter than a weaver’s shuttle,

And come to an end bwithout hope.

7 “Remember that my life ais but breath;

My eye will bnot again see good.

8 “The aeye of him who sees me will behold me no longer;

Your eyes will be on me, but bI will not be.

9 “When a acloud vanishes, it is gone,

So bhe who goes down to cSheol does not come up.

10 “He will not return again to his house,

Nor will ahis place know him anymore.

11 “Therefore aI will not restrain my mouth;

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit,

I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

12 “Am I the sea, or athe sea monster,

That You set a guard over me?

13 “If I say, ‘aMy bed will comfort me,

My couch will 1ease my complaint,’

14 Then You frighten me with dreams

And terrify me by visions;

15 So that my soul would choose suffocation,

Death rather than my 1pains.

16 “I 1awaste away; I will not live forever.

Leave me alone, bfor my days are but a breath.

17 “aWhat is man that You magnify him,

And that You 1are concerned about him,

18 That aYou examine him every morning

And try him every moment?

19 “1aWill You never turn Your gaze away from me,

Nor let me alone until I swallow my spittle?

20 “aHave I sinned? What have I done to You,

O bwatcher of men?

Why have You set me as Your target,

So that I am a burden to myself?

21 “Why then ado You not pardon my transgression

And take away my iniquity?

For now I will blie down in the dust;

And You will seek me, cbut I will not be.”