Job 7-8

New King James Version

Job: My Suffering Is Comfortless

7 “Is there not ^(A)a time of hard service for man on earth?
Are not his days also like the days of a hired man?
²Like a servant who ^[a]earnestly desires the shade,
And like a hired man who eagerly looks for his wages,
³So I have been allotted ^(B)months of futility,
And wearisome nights have been appointed to me.
⁴^(C)When I lie down, I say, ‘When shall I arise,
And the night be ended?’
For I have had my fill of tossing till dawn.
⁵My flesh is ^(D)caked with worms and dust,
My skin is cracked and breaks out afresh.

⁶“My^(E) days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
And are spent without hope.
⁷Oh, remember that ^(F)my life is a breath!
My eye will never again see good.
⁸^(G)The eye of him who sees me will see me no more;
While your eyes are upon me, I shall no longer be.
⁹As the cloud disappears and vanishes away,
So ^(H)he who goes down to the grave does not come up.
¹⁰He shall never return to his house,
^(I)Nor shall his place know him anymore.

¹¹“Therefore I will ^(J)not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will ^(K)complain in the bitterness of my soul.
¹²Am I a sea, or a sea serpent,
That You set a guard over me?
¹³^(L)When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
My couch will ease my complaint,’
¹⁴Then You scare me with dreams
And terrify me with visions,
¹⁵So that my soul chooses strangling
And death rather than ^[b]my body.
¹⁶^(M)I loathe my life;
I would not live forever.
^(N)Let me alone,
For ^(O)my days are but ^[c]a breath.

¹⁷“What^(P) is man, that You should exalt him,
That You should set Your heart on him,
¹⁸That You should ^[d]visit him every morning,
And test him every moment?
¹⁹How long?
Will You not look away from me,
And let me alone till I swallow my saliva?
²⁰Have I sinned?
What have I done to You, ^(Q)O watcher of men?
Why ^(R)have You set me as Your target,
So that I am a burden ^[e]to myself?
²¹Why then do You not pardon my transgression,
And take away my iniquity?
For now I will lie down in the dust,
And You will seek me diligently,
But I will no longer be.”

Bildad: Job Should Repent

8 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

²“How long will you speak these things,
And the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?
³^(S)Does God subvert judgment?
Or does the Almighty pervert justice?
⁴If ^(T)your sons have sinned against Him,
He has cast them away ^[f]for their transgression.
⁵^(U)If you would earnestly seek God
And make your supplication to the Almighty,
⁶If you were pure and upright,
Surely now He would ^[g]awake for you,
And prosper your rightful dwelling place.
⁷Though your beginning was small,
Yet your latter end would ^(V)increase abundantly.

⁸“For^(W) inquire, please, of the former age,
And consider the things discovered by their fathers;
⁹For ^(X)we were born yesterday, and know ^[h]nothing,
Because our days on earth are a shadow.
¹⁰Will they not teach you and tell you,
And utter words from their heart?

¹¹“Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh?
Can the reeds flourish without water?
¹²^(Y)While it is yet green and not cut down,
It withers before any other plant.
¹³So are the paths of all who ^(Z)forget God;
And the hope of the ^(AA)hypocrite shall perish,
¹⁴Whose confidence shall be cut off,
And whose trust is ^[i]a spider’s web.
¹⁵^(AB)He leans on his house, but it does not stand.
He holds it fast, but it does not endure.
¹⁶He grows green in the sun,
And his branches spread out in his garden.
¹⁷His roots wrap around the rock heap,
And look for a place in the stones.
¹⁸^(AC)If he is destroyed from his place,
Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have not seen you.’

¹⁹“Behold, this is the joy of His way,
And ^(AD)out of the earth others will grow.
²⁰Behold, ^(AE)God will not ^[j]cast away the blameless,
Nor will He uphold the evildoers.
²¹He will yet fill your mouth with laughing,
And your lips with ^[k]rejoicing.
²²Those who hate you will be ^(AF)clothed with shame,
And the dwelling place of the wicked ^[l]will come to nothing.”