| English Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1“Has not man a hard service on earth, and are not his days like the days of a hired hand? | 1“Is not all human life a struggle? Our lives are like that of a hired hand, |
| 2Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hired hand who looks for his wages, | 2like a worker who longs for the shade, like a servant waiting to be paid. |
| 3so I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me. | 3I, too, have been assigned months of futility, long and weary nights of misery. |
| 4When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I arise?’ But the night is long, and I am full of tossing till the dawn. | 4Lying in bed, I think, ‘When will it be morning?’ But the night drags on, and I toss till dawn. |
| 5My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt; my skin hardens, then breaks out afresh. | 5My body is covered with maggots and scabs. My skin breaks open, oozing with pus. Job Cries Out to God |
| 6My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle and come to their end without hope. | 6“My days fly faster than a weaver’s shuttle. They end without hope. |
| 7“Remember that my life is a breath; my eye will never again see good. | 7O God, remember that my life is but a breath, and I will never again feel happiness. |
| 8The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more; while your eyes are on me, I shall be gone. | 8You see me now, but not for long. You will look for me, but I will be gone. |
| 9As the cloud fades and vanishes, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up; | 9Just as a cloud dissipates and vanishes, those who die will not come back. |
| 10he returns no more to his house, nor does his place know him anymore. | 10They are gone forever from their home— never to be seen again. |
| 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. | 11“I cannot keep from speaking. I must express my anguish. My bitter soul must complain. |
| 12Am I the sea, or a sea monster, that you set a guard over me? | 12Am I a sea monster or a dragon that you must place me under guard? |
| 13When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint,’ | 13I think, ‘My bed will comfort me, and sleep will ease my misery,’ |
| 14then you scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions, | 14but then you shatter me with dreams and terrify me with visions. |
| 15so that I would choose strangling and death rather than my bones. | 15I would rather be strangled— rather die than suffer like this. |
| 16I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are a breath. | 16I hate my life and don’t want to go on living. Oh, leave me alone for my few remaining days. |
| 17What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him, | 17“What are people, that you should make so much of us, that you should think of us so often? |
| 18visit him every morning and test him every moment? | 18For you examine us every morning and test us every moment. |
| 19How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit? | 19Why won’t you leave me alone, at least long enough for me to swallow! |
| 20If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind? Why have you made me your mark? Why have I become a burden to you? | 20If I have sinned, what have I done to you, O watcher of all humanity? Why make me your target? Am I a burden to you? |
| 21Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie in the earth; you will seek me, but I shall not be.” | 21Why not just forgive my sin and take away my guilt? For soon I will lie down in the dust and die. When you look for me, I will be gone.” |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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