Job 7:1-14 ▼

1 |Isn't a mortal's stay on earth difficult like a hired hand's daily [work]?

2 Like a slave, he longs for shade. Like a hired hand, he eagerly looks for his pay.

3 Likewise, I have been given months that are of no use, and I have inherited nights filled with misery.

4 When I lie down, I ask, 'When will I get up?' But the evening is long, and I'm exhausted from tossing about until dawn.

5 My body is covered with maggots and scabs. My skin is crusted over with sores; then they ooze.

6 My days go swifter than a weaver's shuttle. They are spent without hope.

7 Remember, my life is only a breath, and never again will my eyes see anything good.

8 The eye that watches over me will no longer see me. Your eye will look for me, but I'll be gone.

9 As a cloud fades away and disappears, so a person goes into the grave and doesn't come back again.

10 He doesn't come back home again, and his household doesn't recognize him anymore.

11 So I won't keep my mouth shut, but I will speak from the distress that is in my spirit and complain about the bitterness in my soul.

12 |Am I the sea or a sea monster that you have set a guard over me?

13 When I say, 'My couch may give me comfort. My bed may help me bear my pain,'

14 then you frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions.