7:1 IS THERE not an [appointed] warfare {and} hard labor to man upon earth? And are not his days like the days of a hireling? |
7:2 As a servant earnestly longs for the shade {and} the evening shadows, and as a hireling who looks for the reward of his work, |
7:3 So am I allotted months of futile [suffering], and [long] nights of misery are appointed to me. |
7:4 When I lie down I say, When shall I arise and the night be gone? And I am full of tossing to and fro till the dawning of the day. |
7:5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken and has become loathsome, {and} it closes up and breaks out afresh. |
7:6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope. |
7:7 Oh, remember that my life is but wind (a puff, a breath, a sob); my eye shall see good no more. |
7:8 The eye of him who sees me shall see me no more; while your eyes are upon me, I shall be gone. |
7:9 As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to Sheol (the place of the dead) shall come up no more. |
7:10 He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more. |
7:11 Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul [O Lord]! |
7:12 Am I the sea, or the sea monster, that You set a watch over me? |
7:13 When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint, |
7:14 Then You scare me with dreams and terrify me through visions, |
7:15 So that I would choose strangling {and} death rather than these my bones. |
7:16 I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone, for my days are a breath (futility). |
7:17 What is man that You should magnify him {and} think him important? And that You should set Your mind upon him? |
7:18 And that You should visit him every morning and try him every moment? |
7:19 How long will Your [plaguing] glance not look away from me, nor You let me alone till I swallow my spittle? |
7:20 If I have sinned, what [harm] have I done You, O You Watcher {and} Keeper of men? Why have You set me as a mark for You, so that I am a burden to myself [and You]? |
7:21 And why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now shall I lie down in the dust; and [even if] You will seek me diligently, [it will be too late, for] I shall not be. |