Job 7 - 8 - Legacy Standard Bible

Job 7 - 8

“Is not man conscripted to labor on earth,

And are not his days like the days of a hired man?

As a slave who pants for the shade,

And as a hired man who eagerly hopes for his wages,

So am I apportioned months of worthlessness,

And nights of trouble are appointed me.

If I lie down I say,

‘When shall I arise?’

But the twilight continues,

And I am saturated with tossing until dawn.

My flesh is clothed with worms and a crust of dirt;

My skin scabs over and flows out again.

My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,

And come to an end without hope.

“Remember that my life is but wind;

My eye will not again see good.

The eye of him who sees me will behold me no longer;

Your eyes will be on me, but I will not be.

A cloud vanishes, and it is gone,

So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up.

He will not return again to his house,

Nor will his place recognize him anymore.

“Indeed I will not hold back my mouth;

I will speak in the distress of my spirit;

I will muse on the bitterness of my soul.

Am I the sea or the sea monster,

That You set a guard over me?

If I say, ‘My bed will comfort me;

My couch will ease my bitter musing,’

Then You frighten me with dreams

And terrify me by visions,

So that my soul would choose suffocation,

Death rather than my pains.

I have rejected everything; I will not live forever.

Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.

What is man that You magnify him,

And that You set Your heart on him,

That You examine him every morning

And test him every moment?

Will You never turn Your gaze away from me,

Nor let me alone until I swallow my spit?

Have I sinned? What have I done to You,

O watcher of men?

Why have You set me as Your target,

So that I am a burden to myself?

Why then do You not forgive my transgression

And take away my iniquity?

For now I will lie down in the dust;

And You will seek me earnestly, but I will not be.”

Bildad Claims God Rewards the Good

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, 2

“How long will you say these things,

And the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?

Does God pervert justice?

Or does the Almighty pervert what is right?

If your sons sinned against Him,

Then He sent them into the power of their transgression.

If you would seek God earnestly

And plead for the grace of the Almighty,

If you are pure and upright,

Indeed now He would rouse Himself for you

And make your righteous abode at peace.

Though your beginning was insignificant,

Yet your end will increase greatly.

“Please ask of past generations,

And establish the things searched out by their fathers.

For we are only of yesterday and know nothing,

Because our days on earth are but a shadow.

Will they not instruct you and tell you,

And bring forth words from their hearts?

“Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh?

Can the rushes grow without water?

While it is still green and not cut down,

Yet it dries up before any other plant.

So are the paths of all who forget God;

And the hope of the godless will perish,

Whose confidence is fragile,

And whose trust a spider’s web.

He relies on his house, but it does not stand;

He holds fast to it, but it is not established.

He thrives before the sun,

And his shoots go forth over his garden.

His roots wrap around a rock pile;

He looks upon a house of stones.

If He swallows him up from his place,

Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I never saw you.’

Behold, this is the joy of His way;

And out of the dust others will spring.

Behold, God will not reject a blameless man,

Nor will He strengthen the hand of the evildoers.

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter

And your lips with shouting.

Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,

And the tent of the wicked will be no longer.”