Job 7
7
1“Isn't life for human beings like serving a sentence of hard labor? Don't their days pass like those of a hired laborer? 2Like some slave longing for a bit of shade, like a hired hand anxiously waiting for pay day, 3I've been given months of emptiness and nights of misery. 4When I go to bed I ask, ‘When shall I get up?’ But the night goes on and on, and I toss and turn until dawn. 5My body is covered with maggots and caked in dirt; my skin is cracked, with oozing sores. 6My days pass quicker than a weaver's shuttle#7:6. The image is of a weaver working on a loom, whipping the shuttle from side to side. and they come to an end without hope. 7Remember that my life is just a breath; I will not see happiness again. 8Those watching me won't see me anymore; your eyes will be looking for me, but I will be gone.#7:8. “Will be gone”: in other words, he will be dead; also in verse 21. 9When a cloud disappears, it's gone, just as anyone who goes down to Sheol#7:9. “Sheol”: the place of the dead. does not come back up. 10They will never return home, and the people they knew will forget them.#7:10. Literally, “His place will not know him anymore.”
11So, no, I won't hold my tongue—I will speak in the agony of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. 12Am I the sea or a sea monster that you have to guard me? 13If I tell myself, ‘I'll feel better if I lie down on my bed,’ or ‘it will help me to lie down on my couch,’ 14then you scare me so much with dreams and terrify me with visions 15that I would rather be strangled—I would rather die than become just a bag of bones.
16I hate my life! I know I won't live long. Leave me alone because my life is just a breath.#7:16. “Just a breath”: in other words, it has no purpose or meaning. 17Why are human beings so important to you; why are you so concerned about them 18that you inspect them every morning and test them every moment? Won't you ever stop staring at me? 19Won't you ever leave me alone long enough to catch my breath?#7:19. “Catch my breath”: literally, “swallow my spittle.” 20What have I done wrong? What have I done to you, Watcher of Humanity? Why have you made me your target, so that I'm a burden even to myself? 21If so why don't you pardon my sins, and take away my guilt? Right now I'm going to lie down in the dust, and though you will look for me, I will be gone.”
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Job 7: FBV
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com