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¶ Man certainly has an appointed amount of time upon earth, and his days are like the days of a hireling.

As a slave earnestly desires the shade and as a hireling waits for rest from his work,

so I am made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.

When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise? I measure the night, and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.

My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken and abominable.

My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle and are spent without hope.

¶ Remember thou that my life is wind and that my eyes shall not return to see good.

The eyes of those that see me now shall not see me again; thine eyes shall be upon me, and I will cease to be.

As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he that goes down to Sheol, who shall not come up again;

10 he shall return no more to his house; neither shall his place know him any more.

11 Therefore, I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

12 Am I a sea, or a dragon, that thou settest a watch over me?

13 When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;

14 then thou dost scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions.

15 And my soul thought it better to be strangled and desired death more than my bones.

16 I loathed life; I do not desire to live for ever; let me alone; for my days are vanity.

17 ¶ What is man that thou should magnify him and that thou should set thine heart upon him

18 and that thou should visit him every morning and try him every moment?

19 For how long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone until I swallow down my spittle?

20 If I have sinned, what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? Why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?

21 And why dost thou not take away my rebellion and pass over my iniquity? For now I shall sleep in the dust; and if thou shalt seek me in the morning, I shall not be found.

“Do not mortals have hard service(A) on earth?(B)
    Are not their days like those of hired laborers?(C)
Like a slave longing for the evening shadows,(D)
    or a hired laborer waiting to be paid,(E)
so I have been allotted months of futility,
    and nights of misery have been assigned to me.(F)
When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’(G)
    The night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.(H)
My body is clothed with worms(I) and scabs,
    my skin is broken and festering.(J)

“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,(K)
    and they come to an end without hope.(L)
Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath;(M)
    my eyes will never see happiness again.(N)
The eye that now sees me will see me no longer;
    you will look for me, but I will be no more.(O)
As a cloud vanishes(P) and is gone,
    so one who goes down to the grave(Q) does not return.(R)
10 He will never come to his house again;
    his place(S) will know him no more.(T)

11 “Therefore I will not keep silent;(U)
    I will speak out in the anguish(V) of my spirit,
    I will complain(W) in the bitterness of my soul.(X)
12 Am I the sea,(Y) or the monster of the deep,(Z)
    that you put me under guard?(AA)
13 When I think my bed will comfort me
    and my couch will ease my complaint,(AB)
14 even then you frighten me with dreams
    and terrify(AC) me with visions,(AD)
15 so that I prefer strangling and death,(AE)
    rather than this body of mine.(AF)
16 I despise my life;(AG) I would not live forever.(AH)
    Let me alone;(AI) my days have no meaning.(AJ)

17 “What is mankind that you make so much of them,
    that you give them so much attention,(AK)
18 that you examine them every morning(AL)
    and test them(AM) every moment?(AN)
19 Will you never look away from me,(AO)
    or let me alone even for an instant?(AP)
20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you,(AQ)
    you who see everything we do?
Why have you made me your target?(AR)
    Have I become a burden to you?[a](AS)
21 Why do you not pardon my offenses
    and forgive my sins?(AT)
For I will soon lie down in the dust;(AU)
    you will search for me, but I will be no more.”(AV)

Footnotes

  1. Job 7:20 A few manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition and Septuagint; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text I have become a burden to myself.