53 lines
2.0 KiB
Markdown
53 lines
2.0 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 7
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1 “Is there not a time of hard service for man on earth?
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Are not his days also like the days of a hired man?
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2 Like a servant who earnestly desires the shade,
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And like a hired man who eagerly looks for his wages,
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3 So I have been allotted months of futility,
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And wearisome nights have been appointed to me.
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4 When I lie down, I say, ‘When shall I arise,
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And the night be ended?’
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For I have had my fill of tossing till dawn.
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5 My flesh is caked with worms and dust,
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My skin is cracked and breaks out afresh.
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6 “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
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And are spent without hope.
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7 Oh, remember that my life is a breath!
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My eye will never again see good.
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8 The eye of him who sees me will see me no more;
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While your eyes are upon me, I shall no longer be.
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9 As the cloud disappears and vanishes away,
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So he who goes down to the grave does not come up.
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10 He shall never return to his house,
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Nor shall his place know him anymore.
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11 “Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;
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I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
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I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
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12 Am I a sea, or a sea serpent,
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That You set a guard over me?
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13 When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
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My couch will ease my complaint,’
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14 Then You scare me with dreams
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And terrify me with visions,
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15 So that my soul chooses strangling
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And death rather than my body.
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16 I loathe my life;
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I would not live forever.
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Let me alone,
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For my days are but a breath.
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17 “What is man, that You should exalt him,
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That You should set Your heart on him,
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18 That You should visit him every morning,
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And test him every moment?
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19 How long?
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Will You not look away from me,
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And let me alone till I swallow my saliva?
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20 Have I sinned?
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What have I done to You, O watcher of men?
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Why have You set me as Your target,
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So that I am a burden to myself?
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21 Why then do You not pardon my transgression,
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And take away my iniquity?
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For now I will lie down in the dust,
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And You will seek me diligently,
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But I will no longer be.” |