Job Continues: Life Seems Futile 1 ULT { Is} not hardship to a man on earth? And{ are not} his days like the days of a hireling? BSB BSB: “Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?
2 ULT As a slave longs for shade, and as a hireling awaits his wages, BSB BSB: Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hireling he waits for his wages.
3 ULT so I have been caused to inherit months of futility, and they have appointed nights of trouble to me. BSB BSB: So I am allotted months of futility, and nights of misery are appointed to me.
4 ULT When I lie down, I say,‘When will I get up?’ But the night extends, and I am full of tossings until dawn. BSB BSB: When I lie down I think: ‘When will I get up?’ But the night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.
5 ULT My flesh wears the worm and the clod of dust; my skin breaks and festers. BSB BSB: My flesh is clothed with worms and encrusted with dirt; my skin is cracked and festering.
6 ULT My days are swifter than a shuttle, and they end without hope. BSB BSB: My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.
7 ULT Remember that my life{ is} a breath; my eye will not return to see good. BSB BSB: Remember that my life is but a breath. My eyes will never again see happiness.
8 ULT The eye of the one seeing me will not regard me; your eyes{ will be} on me, but I will not exist. BSB BSB: The eye that beholds me will no longer see me. You will look for me, but I will be no more.
9 ULT A cloud disappears and goes away; so the one descending to Sheol does not ascend. BSB BSB: As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up.
10 ULT He will not return again to his house, and his place will not know him again. BSB BSB: He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more.
11 ULT Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the distress of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. BSB BSB: 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.
12 ULT { Am} I the sea or the sea monster, that you will set a guard over me? BSB BSB: Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that You must keep me under guard?
13 ULT When I say,‘My couch will comfort me, my bed will take away my complaint,’ BSB BSB: When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint,
14 ULT then you scare me with dreams and you terrify me through visions, BSB BSB: then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions,
15 ULT and my soul chooses strangling, death, rather than my bones. BSB BSB: so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body.
16 ULT I loathe; I will not live forever. Cease from me, for my days{ are} vapor. BSB BSB: I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
17 ULT What is man, that you will magnify him and that you will set your heart on him, BSB BSB: What is man that You should exalt him, that You should set Your heart upon him,
18 ULT and you will visit him in the mornings and you will test him in the moments? BSB BSB: that You attend to him every morning, and test him every moment?
19 ULT For how long will you not look away from me? Will you not slacken until I swallow my saliva? BSB BSB: Will You never look away from me, or leave me alone to swallow my spittle?
20 ULT { If} I have sinned, what have I done to you, the one watching man? Why have you made me a target for you? Indeed, am I a burden to myself? BSB BSB: If I have sinned, what have I done to You, O watcher of mankind? Why have You made me Your target, so that I am a burden to You?
21 ULT Why will 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 not exist.” BSB BSB: Why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For soon I will lie down in the dust; You will seek me, but I will be no more.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.