Job 7:1-21

Job continues to speak

1 ‘Men always have a lot of work to do on this earth.

They have to work every day like servants.

2 A slave waits for the end of the day so that he can stop his work.

A servant waits until his master pays him.

3 But I have nothing to wait for.

Every night, when I lie down to sleep, I am sad.

4 When I lie down I want the night to end.

But it does not end, and I cannot sleep. Finally, dawn comes.

5 There are worms all over my body.

All of my skin is painful.

6 My life is passing very fast. It passes too quickly to see it!

But I cannot hope that it will get any better.

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

I know that I will never be happy again.

8 You see me now but soon you will not see me.

You will look for me, but I will have gone.

9 A cloud passes across the sky and then it is gone. You never see it again.

That is like a person who dies. He never returns to the earth.

10 He will never come back to his house again.

People who knew him soon forget him.

11 So I will not be quiet. I will speak to tell you how angry I am.

I will speak to say how very sad I feel.

12 Perhaps you have to watch the animals that live in the sea.

But I do not understand why you have to watch me every day.

13 I lie down and try to rest.

Perhaps my pain will be less when I am asleep.

14 But even then you cause me to dream and that frightens me.

I am afraid when I see things in the night.

15 I would rather die than continue a life like this.

16 I hate my life and I do not want to live any more.

My life has no meaning.

So let me die alone.

17 You seem to think that men are very important.

You seem to have a lot of interest in men.

18 You seem to watch them every morning.

And you seem to check what they are doing at each moment of the day.

I would like to know why you are like that.

19 It seems that you never stop watching me.

It seems that I cannot be alone, even for a moment.

20 You seem to think that I have done wrong things.

You watch what men do. I know that. But I do not know what I have done to you.

I do not know why you have chosen to watch me.

You seem to think that I have caused trouble for you.

21 I do not know why you do not excuse me.

I do not know why you do not forgive me for my sins.

Soon I will die and my friends will bury me.

Then you will look for me, but you will not find me.’