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7:1  Job: Don’t we humans struggle long and hard in our time on earth? Don’t we live our lives as common laborers?
7:2  As slaves longing for shade, as workers pining for wages,
7:3  So I am destined to receive only months of meaninglessness, and nights of nothing but misery.
7:4  When I lie down at the end of day, I wonder, “How soon till morning so I can arise?” But the night stretches on, and I toss and turn until sunrise.
7:5  My putrid skin is covered with maggots and a dirty crust. It hardens and cracks and oozes again.
7:6  My days whisk by swifter than the shuttle in a weaver’s loom— back and forth, and back and forth— and then they come to their hopeless end.
7:7  My life, remember, is just a breath; in death no more good will reach my eye.
7:8  Whoever sees me now, will not for long; you’ll look for me, but I’ll be gone.
7:9  As clouds thin and finally vanish, so it is when people enter the land of the dead. Never will they come back up.
7:10  Never will they return to their homes or will the place they lived recognize them anymore.
7:11  Like Eliphaz, I will not keep silent. In the agony of my spirit, I will speak; In the bitterness of my soul, I will complain.
7:12  Am I the raging sea, or the monster of the deep, so threatening you must appoint a guard over me?
7:13  When I think my couch will comfort me or my bed will soften my complaint,
7:14  You, Lord, intimidate me with dreams and terrorize me with visions.
7:15  I’d rather be suffocated, even dead, than live in these aching bones of mine.
7:16  Job: I hate my life. I have no desire to keep on living. Leave me alone, God, for I have only a short time left.
7:17  What are these human beings, that You make so much of them— that You shower them with attention?
7:18  You examine them morning by morning; You test them moment by moment.
7:19  How long will You stare at me? I can’t even clear my throat of spit without an audience.
7:20  I have sinned. What have I done to You, You who watch after humanity? Why have You targeted me, a man whose life is just a breath? Am I really such a heavy load for You?
7:21  So I’ve sinned inadvertently: can’t You pardon me? Are my crimes such You can’t forgive my sins? After all, I will lie in the dust, and it won’t be long until You will look for me, but I’ll be gone.