| 1 | Is there not an [appointed] warfare
and
hard labor to man upon earth? And are not his days like the days of a hireling? |
| 2 | As a servant earnestly longs for the shade
and
the evening shadows, and as a hireling who looks for the reward of his work, |
| 3 | So am I allotted months of futile [suffering], and [long] nights of misery are appointed to me. |
| 4 | When I lie down I say, When shall I arise and the night be gone? And I am full of tossing to and fro till the dawning of the day. |
| 5 | My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken and has become loathsome,
and
it closes up and breaks out afresh. |
| 6 | My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope. |
| 7 | Oh, remember that my life is but wind (a puff, a breath, a sob); my eye shall see good no more. |
| 8 | The eye of him who sees me shall see me no more; while your eyes are upon me, I shall be gone. |
| 9 | As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to Sheol (the place of the dead) shall come up no more. |
| 10 | He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more. |
| 11 | Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul [O Lord]! |
| 12 | Am I the sea, or the sea monster, that You set a watch over me? |
| 13 | When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint, |
| 14 | Then You scare me with dreams and terrify me through visions, |
| 15 | So that I would choose strangling
and
death rather than these my bones. |
| 16 | I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone, for my days are a breath (futility). |
| 17 | What is man that You should magnify him
and
think him important? And that You should set Your mind upon him? |
| 18 | And that You should visit him every morning and try him every moment? |
| 19 | How long will Your [plaguing] glance not look away from me, nor You let me alone till I swallow my spittle? |
| 20 | If I have sinned, what [harm] have I done You, O You Watcher
and
Keeper of men? Why have You set me as a mark for You, so that I am a burden to myself [and You]? |
| 21 | And why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now shall I lie down in the dust; and [even if] You will seek me diligently, [it will be too late, for] I shall not be. |
Cross references:
-
Job 7:17 : Ps. 8:4.
|