Book of Job, Chapter 7
Job 7 NWT - New World TranslationChapter 7 of Job—New World Translation (NWT)
- ¶ “Is there not a compulsory labor1 for mortal man on earth,
And are not his days like the days of a hired laborer?2 - ¶ Like a slave he pants for the shadow,3
And like a hired laborer he waits for his wages.4 - ¶ Thus I have been made to possess worthless lunar months,5
And nights of trouble6 they have counted out to me. - ¶ When I have lain down I have also said, ‘When shall I get up?’7
And [when] evening actually goes its measure, I have also been glutted with restlessness until morning twilight. - ¶ My flesh has become clothed with maggots8 and lumps of dust;9
My skin itself has formed crusts and dissolves.10 - ¶ My days themselves have become swifter11 than a weaver’s shuttle,
And they come to an end in hopelessness.12 - ¶ Remember that my life is wind;13
That my eye will not see good again. - ¶ The eye of him that sees me will not behold me;
Your eyes will be upon me, but I shall not be.14 - ¶ The cloud certainly comes to its end and goes away;
So he that is going down to Sheʹol will not come up.15 - ¶ He will not return anymore to his house,
And his place will not acknowledge him anymore.16 - ¶ I, also, I shall not hold back my mouth.
I will speak in the distress of my spirit;[a]
I will be concerned with the bitterness of my soul!17 - ¶ Am I a sea or a sea monster,
That you should set a guard18 over me? - ¶ When I said, ‘My divan will comfort me,
My bed will help carry my concern,’ - ¶ You even have terrified me with dreams,
And by visions you make me start up in fright, - ¶ So that my soul chooses suffocation,
Death19 rather than my bones. - ¶ I have rejected [it];20 to time indefinite I would not live.
Cease from me, for my days are an exhalation.21 - ¶ What is mortal man22 that you should rear him,[b]
And that you should set your heart upon him, - ¶ And that you should pay attention to him every morning,
That every moment you should test him?23 - ¶ Why will you not turn your gaze from me,24
Nor let me alone until I swallow my saliva?[c] - ¶ If I have sinned, what can I accomplish against you, the Observer of mankind?[d]25
Why is it that you have set me as your target, so that I should become a burden to you?[e] - ¶ And why do you not pardon my transgression26
And overlook my error?
¶ For now in dust27 I shall lie down;
And you will certainly look for me, and I shall not be.”
FOOTNOTES
- ^ “My spirit.” Heb., ru·chiʹ; Lat., spiʹri·tus.
- ^ Or, “make much of him.”
- ^ That is, alone for the briefest time. See Nu 4:20 ftn.
- ^ “Mankind.” Heb., ha·ʼa·dhamʹ.
- ^ “You,” LXX and the original Heb. text; M, “myself.” This is one of the Eighteen Emendations of the Jewish Sopherim. See App 2B.
REFERENCES
- ^ Jb 14:14
- ^ Jb 14:6; Ps 39:4
- ^ Is 25:5
- ^ Le 19:13; De 24:15
- ^ Jb 29:2
- ^ Ps 6:6
- ^ Jb 2:8; 30:17
- ^ Is 14:11
- ^ Jb 30:19
- ^ Jb 30:30
- ^ Ps 102:11; 103:15; 144:4; Jm 4:14
- ^ Jb 17:15; Ro 8:20
- ^ Ps 89:47; Ec 2:11
- ^ Jb 7:21; Jm 4:14
- ^ Jb 10:21; 14:12; Ps 78:39; Ec 9:10
- ^ Ps 103:16; 146:4; Ec 9:5
- ^ 1Sa 1:10; Jb 10:1; Pr 14:10
- ^ Jb 38:8
- ^ Jb 3:21; Re 9:6
- ^ Ge 27:46; 1Ki 19:4; Jb 10:1; Jon 4:3
- ^ Ps 62:9; 144:4; Ec 6:11
- ^ Ps 8:4; 103:15; 144:3; Heb 2:6
- ^ De 13:3; Jb 23:10; Ps 7:9
- ^ Jb 14:6
- ^ Jb 34:21; Pr 5:21; Je 16:17; Heb 4:13; 1Pe 3:12
- ^ Is 33:24
- ^ Ge 3:19; Ps 104:29; Ec 12:7; Da 12:2
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