Job 7
What Happens in This Chapter
Job keeps speaking about his suffering. He says life is short and full of hard work, and his nights are full of pain. Then he turns and speaks straight to God, asking why God watches him so closely, and asking to be left alone. He says he will soon die and be gone.
Plain reading written for kids. Short sentences, everyday words, one idea at a time.
Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?
1Job said, "People have hard work to do on earth. Their days are like the days of a hired worker.
2As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work:
2A servant longs for cool shade. A hired worker waits for his pay.
3So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.
3In the same way, I have been given months that feel empty. My nights are full of pain.
4When 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.
4When I lie down, I ask, "When can I get up?" The night goes slowly. I turn over and over until morning.
5My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome.
5My skin is covered with worms and crusted dirt. It is cracked open and sore.
6My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope.
6My days rush by faster than a weaver's shuttle. They end, and no hope is left.
A weaver's shuttle is the small tool that shoots back and forth across a loom while cloth is being made. It moves very fast.
7O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good.
7Please remember that my life is only a breath. My eyes will never see good days again.
8The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.
8Anyone who sees me now will not see me much longer. You will look for me, and I will be gone.
9As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.
9A cloud fades until nothing is left. In the same way, a person who goes down to the grave does not come back up.
10He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.
10He never comes home again. The place where he lived forgets him.
11Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
11So I will not keep quiet. I will say how much it hurts. I will pour out the sadness inside me.
12Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me?
12Am I the sea, or a huge sea monster? Is that why you set a guard to watch me?
In old stories, the sea and the great sea monster were wild things that had to be watched and held back. Job is asking if God treats him like something that dangerous.
13When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;
13Sometimes I think, "My bed will comfort me. Lying down will ease my sadness."
14Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions:
14But then you frighten me with dreams. You scare me with things I see at night.
15So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.
15So I would rather be choked to death than go on living in this body.
16I loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity.
16I hate my life. I do not want to live forever. Leave me alone, because my days are only a breath.
17What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?
17Why do you make so much of people? Why do you care about them so deeply?
18And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment?
18Why do you come to check on a person every morning? Why do you test him every moment?
19How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?
19Will you never look away from me? Will you not leave me alone long enough to swallow?
"Long enough to swallow" was an everyday way of saying "for one short moment."
20I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?
20I have sinned. But what does that do to you, you who watch over people? Why have you made me your target? Now I feel like a heavy load to myself.
21And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.
21Why don't you forgive the wrong I have done? Soon I will lie down in the dust. You will look for me, but I will be gone."
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