7:1
Is not human life on earth just conscript service? Do we not live a hireling's life?
7:2
Like a slave, sighing for the shade, or a hireling with no thought but for his wages,
7:3
I have months of futility assigned to me, nights of suffering to be my lot.
7:4
Lying in bed I wonder, 'When will it be day?' No sooner up than, 'When will evening come?' And crazy thoughts obsess me till twilight falls.
7:5
Vermin and loathsome scabs cover my body; my skin is cracked and oozes pus.
7:6
Swifter than a weaver's shuttle my days have passed, and vanished, leaving no hope behind.
7:7
Remember that my life is but a breath, and that my eyes will never again see joy.
7:8
The eye that once saw me will look on me no more, your eyes will turn my way, and I shall not be there.
7:9
A cloud dissolves and is gone, so no one who goes down to Sheol ever comes up again,
7:10
ever comes home again, and his house knows that person no more.
7:11
That is why I cannot keep quiet: in my anguish of spirit I shall speak, in my bitterness of soul I shall complain.
7:12
Am I the Sea, or some sea monster, that you should keep me under guard?
7:13
If I say, 'My bed will comfort me, my couch will lighten my complaints,'
7:14
you then frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions,
7:15
so that strangling would seem welcome in comparison, yes, death preferable to what I suffer.
7:16
I am wasting away, my life is not unending; leave me then, for my days are but a breath.
7:17
What are human beings that you should take them so seriously, subjecting them to your scrutiny,
7:18
that morning after morning you should examine them and at every instant test them?
7:19
Will you never take your eyes off me long enough for me to swallow my spittle?
7:20
Suppose I have sinned, what have I done to you, you tireless watcher of humanity? Why do you choose me as your target? Why should I be a burden to you?
7:21
Can you not tolerate my sin, not overlook my fault? For soon I shall be lying in the dust, you will look for me and I shall be no more.
Previous
Next