Job 7-8

Job 7

¹“Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?

²Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hireling he waits for his wages.

³So I am allotted months of futility, and nights of misery are appointed me.

⁴When I lie down I think: ‘When will I get up?’ But the night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.

⁵My flesh is clothed with worms and encrusted with dirt; my skin is cracked and festering.

⁶My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.

⁷Remember that my life is but a breath. My eyes will never again see happiness.

⁸The eye that beholds me will no longer see me. You will look for me, but I will be no more.

⁹As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up.

¹⁰He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more.

¹¹Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak 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 must keep me under guard?

¹³When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint,

¹⁴then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions,

¹⁵so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body.

¹⁶I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.

¹⁷What is man that You should exalt him, that You should set Your heart upon him,

¹⁸that You attend to him every morning, and test him every moment?

¹⁹Will You never look away from me, or leave me alone to swallow my spittle?

²⁰If I have sinned, what have I done to You, O watcher of mankind? Why have You made me Your target, so that I am a burden to You ?

²¹Why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For soon I will lie down in the dust; You will seek me, but I will be no more.”

Job 8

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

²“How long will you go on saying such things? The words of your mouth are a blustering wind.

³Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?

⁴When your children sinned against Him, He gave them over to their rebellion.

⁵But if you would earnestly seek God and ask the Almighty for mercy,

⁶if you are pure and upright, even now He will rouse Himself on your behalf and restore your righteous estate.

⁷Though your beginnings were modest, your latter days will flourish.

⁸Please inquire of past generations and consider the discoveries of their fathers.

⁹For we were born yesterday and know nothing; our days on earth are but a shadow.

¹⁰Will they not teach you and tell you, and speak from their understanding?

¹¹Does papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Do reeds flourish without water?

¹²While the shoots are still uncut, they dry up quicker than grass.

¹³Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so the hope of the godless will perish.

¹⁴His confidence is fragile; his security is in a spider’s web.

¹⁵He leans on his web, but it gives way; he holds fast, but it does not endure.

¹⁶He is a well-watered plant in the sunshine, spreading its shoots over the garden.

¹⁷His roots wrap around the rock heap; he looks for a home among the stones.

¹⁸If he is uprooted from his place, it will disown him, saying, ‘I never saw you.’

¹⁹Surely this is the joy of his way; yet others will spring from the dust.

²⁰Behold, God does not reject the blameless, nor will He strengthen the hand of evildoers.

²¹He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with a shout of joy.

²²Your enemies will be clothed in shame, and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”