Job 7

Job continues to speak

1 People have to work very hard on this earth.

They have to work every day, like servants.

2 A servant waits for the end of the day so that he can rest.

A worker waits for his master to pay him.

3 But there is nothing for me to wait for.

I wait for many months and nothing happens.

Every night, I am always sad.

4 When I lie down at night to sleep,

I think, “How soon will the night end?”

But the night continues and I cannot sleep.

Finally, dawn comes.

5 There are worms all over my body.

All of my skin is painful.

There are dirty sores all over it.

6 My life is passing very fast.

Each day passes too quickly to see it!

The days of my life will finish,

and I cannot hope for anything to get better.

7 Remember, God, that my life is as short as a breath.

I know that I will never be happy again.

8 People who can see me now will not see me any more.

You will look for me, but I will not be there.

9 Clouds disappear and you never see them again.

That is like people who die and go into their graves.

They do not come back again.

10 They do not come back to live in their homes.

People forget about them.

11 So I must continue to speak.

I will tell you how upset I am.

I am angry because of what has happened to me.

So I must complain.

12 Why do you have to watch me, God, like a guard?

Do you think that I am a dangerous monster from the sea?

13 When I lie down to sleep,

I hope that my pain will be less.

14 But even then you give me dreams that frighten me.

I have visions which make me very afraid.

15 I would like someone to stop me breathing!

Death would be better than life.

16 My life is useless.

I do not want to live for ever.

My life is only a short breath.

So let me be alone.

17 Why do you think that people are important?

Why do you watch us so carefully?

18 You never leave us alone.

You test us every moment of every day.

19 You never look the other way.

You never leave me alone, even for a moment.

20 You carefully watch what people do.

Even if I have done something wrong,

it should not cause any trouble for you.

So why do you choose to punish me?

21 You should agree to forgive my sins.

You should say that I am not guilty.

I will soon die and I will go into my grave.

Then you will carefully look for me,

but I will not be there.’