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Job's Life Seems Futile

¹ "Is not man ^(C1)forced to labor on earth?
And are not his days like the days of a ^(C2)hired man?

² "As a slave earnestly longs for the shade,
And as a hired man eagerly awaits his wages,

³ So am I allotted months of futility and suffering,
And long ^(C1)nights of trouble and misery are appointed to me.

⁴ "When I ^(C1)lie down I say,
'When shall I arise and the night be gone?'
But the night continues,
And I am continually tossing until the dawning of day.

⁵ "My ^(C1)body is clothed with worms and a crust of dust;
My skin is hardened and broken and loathsome, and breaks out and runs.

⁶ "My days are ^(C1)swifter than a weaver's shuttle,
And are spent ^(C2)without hope.

⁷ "Remember that my life ^(C1)is but breath a puff of wind, a sigh;
My eye ^(C2)will not see good again.

⁸ "The ^(C1)eye of him who sees me now will see me no more;
Your eyes will be upon me, but ^(C2)I will not be.

⁹ "As a ^(C1)cloud vanishes and is gone,
So ^(C2)he who goes down to ^(C3)Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) does not come up.

¹⁰ "He will not return again to his house,
Nor will ^(C1)his place know about him anymore.

¹¹ "Therefore ^(C1)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.

¹² "Am I the sea, or ^(C1)the sea monster,
That You set a guard over me?

¹³ "When I say, '^(C1)My bed will comfort me,
My couch will ease my complaint,'

¹⁴ Then You frighten me with dreams
And terrify me through visions,

¹⁵ So that I would choose suffocation,
Death rather than my ^(F1)pain.

¹⁶ "I ^(C1)waste away and loathe my life; I will not live forever.
Let me alone, ^(C2)for my days are but a breath futile and without substance.

¹⁷ "^(C1)What is man that You should magnify him and think him important?
And that You are concerned about him? ^(VR1)

¹⁸ "And that ^(C1)You examine him every morning
And try and test him every moment?

¹⁹ "^(C1)Will You never turn Your gaze away from me it plagues me,
Nor let me alone until I swallow my spittle?

²⁰ "If ^(C1)I have sinned, what harm have I done to You,
O ^(C2)Watcher of mankind?
Why have You set me as a target for You,
So that I am a burden to myself?

²¹ "Why then ^(C1)do You not pardon my transgression
And take away my sin and guilt?
For now I will ^(C2)lie down in the dust;
And You will seek me diligently, ^(C3)but I will not be."