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The Book of Job

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- Chapter 7 -

Job: My suffering is without consolation

1
The life of a man on the earth is a battle, and his days are like the days of a hired hand.
2
Just as a servant desires the shade, and just as the hired hand looks forward to the end of his work,
3
so also have I had empty months and have counted my burdensome nights.
4
If I lie down to sleep, I will say, “When will I rise?” And next I will hope for the evening and will be filled with sorrows even until darkness.
5
My flesh is clothed with particles of rottenness and filth; my skin is dried up and tightened.
6
My days have passed by more quickly than threads are cut by a weaver, and they have been consumed without any hope.
7
Remember that my life is wind, and my eye will not return to see good things.
8
Neither will the sight of man gaze upon me; your eyes are upon me, and I will not endure.
9
Just as a cloud is consumed and passes away, so he who descends to hell will not ascend.(a)
10
He will not return again to his house, nor will his own place know him any longer.
11
And because of this, I will not restrain my mouth. I will speak in the affliction of my spirit. I will converse from the bitterness of my soul.
12
Am I an ocean or a whale, that you have encircled me in a prison?
13
If I say, “My bed will comfort me, and I will find rest, speaking with myself on my blanket,”
14
then you will frighten me with dreams, and strike dread through visions,
15
so that, because of these things, my soul would choose hanging, and my bones, death.
16
I despair; by no means will I live any longer. Spare me, for my days are nothing.
17
What is man, that you should praise him? Or why do you place your heart near him?
18
You visit him at dawn, and you test him unexpectedly.
19
How long will you not spare me, nor release me to ingest my saliva?
20
I have sinned; what should I do for you, O keeper of men? Why have you set me against you, so that I have become burdensome even to myself?
21
Why do you not steal away my sin, and why do you not sweep away my iniquity? Behold, now I will sleep in the dust, and if you seek me in the morning, I will not remain.(b)

Footnotes

(a)7:9 The word ‘infernos’ can mean hell or, more generally, ‘the underworld.’(Conte)
(b)7:21 Or, ‘why do you not steal away my sin...’ The word ‘tollis’ can also mean to steal. Again, aufers can mean to steal. Job is suggesting that God take away his sin, even if it is not fitting, even if it were analogous to stealing.(Conte)

Job: My suffering is without consolation

1
“Isn’t a man forced to labor on earth? Aren’t his days like the days of a hired hand?
2
As a servant who earnestly desires the shadow, as a hireling who looks for his wages,
3
so I am made to possess months of misery, wearisome nights are appointed to me.
4
When I lie down, I say, ‘When will I arise, and the night be gone?’ I toss and turn until the dawning of the day.
5
My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust. My skin 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 a breath. My eye will no more see good.
8
The eye of him who sees me will see me no more. Your eyes will be on me, but I will not be.
9
As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to Sheol (a) will come up no more.
10
He will return no more to his house, neither will his place know him any more.
11
“Therefore I will not keep silent. 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 sea monster, that you put a guard over me?
13
When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me. My couch will ease my complaint,’
14
then you scare me with dreams and terrify me through visions,
15
so that my soul chooses strangling, death rather than my bones.
16
I loathe my life. I don’t want to live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
17
What is man, that you should magnify him, that you should set your mind on him,
18
that you should visit him every morning, and test him every moment?
19
How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone until I swallow down my spittle?
20
If I have sinned, what do I do to you, you watcher of men? Why have you set me as a mark for you, so that I am a burden to myself?
21
Why do you not pardon my disobedience, and take away my iniquity? For now will I lie down in the dust. You will seek me diligently, but I will not be.”

Footnotes

(a)7:9 Sheol is the place of the dead.
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