Job 7 – NIRV & NIV

New International Reader’s Version

Job 7:1-21

1Job continued,

“Don’t all human beings have to work hard on this earth?

Aren’t their days like the days of hired workers?

2I’ve been like a slave

who longs for the evening shadows to come.

I’ve been like a hired worker

who is waiting to be paid.

3I’ve been given several months that were useless to me.

My nights have been filled with suffering.

4When I lie down I think,

‘How long will it be before I can get up?’

The night drags on.

I toss and turn until sunrise.

5My body is covered with worms and sores.

My skin is broken. It has boils all over it.

6“My days pass by faster than a weaver can work.

They come to an end. I don’t have any hope.

7God, remember that my life is only a breath.

I’ll never be happy again.

8The eyes that see me now won’t see me anymore.

You will look for me. But I’ll be gone.

9When a cloud disappears, it’s gone forever.

And anyone who goes down to the grave never returns.

10He never comes home again.

Even his own family doesn’t remember him.

11“So I won’t keep quiet.

When I’m suffering greatly, I’ll speak out.

When my spirit is bitter, I’ll tell you how unhappy I am.

12Am I the ocean? Am I the sea monster?

If I’m not, why do you guard me so closely?

13Sometimes I think my bed will comfort me.

I think my couch will keep me from being unhappy.

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

You send me visions that terrify me.

15So I would rather choke to death.

That would be better than living in this body of mine.

16I hate my life. I don’t want to live forever.

Leave me alone. My days don’t mean anything to me.

17“What are human beings that you think so much of them?

What are they that you pay so much attention to them?

18You check up on them every morning.

You test them every moment.

19Won’t you ever look away from me?

Won’t you leave me alone even for one second?

20If I’ve really sinned, tell me what I’ve done to you.

You see everything we do.

Why do you shoot your arrows at me?

Have I become a problem to you?

21Why don’t you forgive the wrong things I’ve done?

Why don’t you forgive me for my sins?

I’ll soon lie down in the dust of my grave.

You will search for me. But I’ll be gone.”

New International Version

Job 7:1-21

1“Do not mortals have hard service on earth?

Are not their days like those of hired laborers?

2Like a slave longing for the evening shadows,

or a hired laborer waiting to be paid,

3so I have been allotted months of futility,

and nights of misery have been assigned to me.

4When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’

The night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.

5My body is clothed with worms and scabs,

my skin is broken and festering.

6“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,

and they come to an end without hope.

7Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath;

my eyes will never see happiness again.

8The eye that now sees me will see me no longer;

you will look for me, but I will be no more.

9As a cloud vanishes and is gone,

so one who goes down to the grave does not return.

10He will never come to his house again;

his place will know him no more.

11“Therefore I will not keep silent;

I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit,

I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

12Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep,

that you put me under guard?

13When I think my bed will comfort me

and my couch will ease my complaint,

14even then you frighten me with dreams

and terrify me with visions,

15so that I prefer strangling and death,

rather than this body of mine.

16I despise my life; I would not live forever.

Let me alone; my days have no meaning.

17“What is mankind that you make so much of them,

that you give them so much attention,

18that you examine them every morning

and test them every moment?

19Will you never look away from me,

or let me alone even for an instant?

20If I have sinned, what have I done to you,

you who see everything we do?

Why have you made me your target?

Have I become a burden to you?7:20 A few manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition and Septuagint; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text I have become a burden to myself.

21Why do you not pardon my offenses

and forgive my sins?

For I will soon lie down in the dust;

you will search for me, but I will be no more.”