Is there not a {Or, time of service}warfare to man upon earth?
And are not his days like the days of a hireling?
As a servant that earnestly desireth the shadow,
And as a hireling that looketh for his wages:
So am I made to possess months of misery,
And wearisome nights are appointed to me.
When I lie down, I say,
When shall I arise, and the night be gone?
And I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.
My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust;
My skin {Or, is broken and become loathsome}closeth up, and breaketh out afresh.
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle,
And are spent without hope.
Oh remember that my life is a breath:
Mine eye shall no more see good.
The eye of him that seeth me shall behold me no more;
Thine eyes shall be upon me, but I shall not be.
As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away,
So he that goeth down to Sheol shall come up no more.
He shall return no more to his house,
Neither shall his place know him any more.
Therefore I will not refrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
Am I a sea, or a sea-monster,
That thou settest a watch over me?
When I say, My bed shall comfort me,
My couch shall ease my complaint;
Then thou scarest me with dreams,
And terrifiest me through visions:
So that my soul chooseth strangling,
And death rather than these my bones.
{Or, I waste away}I loathe my life; I {Or, shall}would not live alway:
Let me alone; for my days are {Or, as a breath}vanity.
What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him,
And that thou shouldest set thy mind upon him,
And that thou shouldest visit him every morning,
And try him every moment?
How long wilt thou not look away from me,
Nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?
If I have sinned, what {Or, can I do}do I unto thee, O thou {Or, preserver}watcher of men?
Why hast thou set me as a mark for thee,
So that I am a burden to myself?
And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity?
For now shall I lie down in the dust;
And thou wilt seek me diligently, but I shall not be.
Querverweise zu Hiob 7,16 Hiob 7,16
Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery,And life unto the bitter in soul;
Who {Hebrew: wait.}long for death, but it cometh not,And dig for it more than for hid treasures;
Who rejoice {Or, unto exultation}exceedingly,And are glad, when they can find the grave?
Are not my days few? {Another reading is, let him cease, and leave me alone.}cease then,And let me alone, that I may {Hebrew: brighten up.}take comfort a little,
Surely men of low degree are {Hebrew: a breath.}vanity, and men of high degree are a lie:In the balances they will go up;They are together lighter than {Hebrew: a breath.}vanity.
Even that it would please God to crush me;That he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
Look away from him, that he may {Hebrew: cease.}rest,Till he shall {Or, have pleasure in}accomplish, as a hireling, his day.
Therefore their days did he consume in vanity,And their years in terror.
My soul is weary of my life;I will give free course to my complaint;I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
Remove thy stroke away from me:I am consumed by the {Hebrew: conflict.}blow of thy hand.
Man is like to {Hebrew: a breath.}vanity:His days are as a shadow that passeth away.
And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?
Oh {Or, look away from me}spare me, that I may {Hebrew: brighten up.}recover strength,Before I go hence, and be no more.
Seeing there are many {Or, words}things that increase vanity, what is man the better?
But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a {Or, broom-tree}juniper-tree: and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is enough; now, O Jehovah, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
For who knoweth what is good for man in his life, {Hebrew: the number of days.}all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
Therefore now, O Jehovah, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
And it came to pass, when the sun arose, that God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.