Font Size
Job 7
Living Bible
Job 7
Living Bible
7 “How mankind must struggle. A man’s life is long and hard, like that of a slave. 2 How he longs for the day to end. How he grinds on to the end of the week and his wages. 3 And so to me also have been allotted months of frustration, these long and weary nights. 4 When I go to bed I think, ‘Oh, that it were morning,’ and then I toss till dawn.
5 “My skin is filled with worms and blackness. My flesh breaks open, full of pus. 6 My life drags by—day after hopeless day. 7 My life is but a breath, and nothing good is left. 8 You see me now, but not for long. Soon you’ll look upon me dead. 9 As a cloud disperses and vanishes, so those who die shall go away forever— 10 gone forever from their family and their home—never to be seen again. 11 Ah, let me express my anguish. Let me be free to speak out of the bitterness of my soul.
12 “O God, am I some monster that you never leave me alone? 13-14 Even when I try to forget my misery in sleep, you terrify with nightmares. 15 I would rather die of strangulation than go on and on like this. 16 I hate my life. Oh, leave me alone for these few remaining days. 17 What is mere man that you should spend your time persecuting him? 18 Must you be his inquisitor every morning and test him every moment of the day? 19 Why won’t you leave me alone—even long enough to spit?
20 “Has my sin harmed you, O God, watcher of mankind? Why have you made me your target, and made my life so heavy a burden to me? 21 Why not just pardon my sin and take it all away? For all too soon I’ll lie down in the dust and die, and when you look for me, I shall be gone.”
Job 7
New International Version
Job 7
New International Version
7 “Do not mortals have hard service(A) on earth?(B)
Are not their days like those of hired laborers?(C)
2 Like a slave longing for the evening shadows,(D)
or a hired laborer waiting to be paid,(E)
3 so I have been allotted months of futility,
and nights of misery have been assigned to me.(F)
4 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)
5 My body is clothed with worms(I) and scabs,
my skin is broken and festering.(J)
6 “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,(K)
and they come to an end without hope.(L)
7 Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath;(M)
my eyes will never see happiness again.(N)
8 The eye that now sees me will see me no longer;
you will look for me, but I will be no more.(O)
9 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
- 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.
Living Bible (TLB)
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.