1 “Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand? 2 Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hireling he waits for his wages. 3 So I am allotted months of futility, and nights of misery are appointed me. 4 When I lie down I think: ‘When will I get up?’ But the night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn. 5 My flesh is clothed with worms and encrusted with dirt; my skin is cracked and festering. 6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope. 7 Remember that my life is but a breath. My eyes will never again see happiness. 8 The eye that beholds me will no longer see me. You will look for me, but I will be no more. 9 As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up. 10 He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more. 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. 12 Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that You must keep me under guard? 13 When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, 14 then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions, 15 so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body. 16 I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath. 17 What is man that You should exalt him, that You should set Your heart upon him, 18 that You attend to him every morning, and test him every moment? 19 Will You never look away from me, or leave me alone to swallow my spittle? 20 If 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 ? 21 Why 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 7:1–21
Semantically similar passages
Job 17:1–2
1 “My spirit is broken; my days are extinguished; the grave awaits me. 2 Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.
Job 10:19–21
19 If only I had never come to be, but had been carried from the womb to the grave. 20 Are my days not few? Withdraw from me, that I may have a little comfort, 21 before I go—never to return— to a land of darkness and gloom,
Job 10:1–2
1 “I loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul. 2 I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me.
Psalms 89:46–48
46 How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath keep burning like fire? 47 Remember the briefness of my lifespan! For what futility You have created all men! 48 What man can live and never see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?…
Job 9:17–19
17 For He would crush me with a tempest and multiply my wounds without cause. 18 He does not let me catch my breath, but overwhelms me with bitterness. 19 If it is a matter of strength, He is indeed mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him ?
Psalms 39:12–13
12 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. For I am a foreigner dwelling with You, a stranger like all my fathers. 13 Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may again be cheered before I depart and am no more.”
Jeremiah 20:17–18
17 because he did not kill me in the womb so that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb forever enlarged. 18 Why did I come out of the womb to see only trouble and sorrow, and to end my days in shame?
Job 16:15–17
15 I have sewn sackcloth over my skin; I have buried my horn in the dust. 16 My face is red with weeping, and deep shadows ring my eyes; 17 yet my hands are free of violence and my prayer is pure.
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