48 lines
1.8 KiB
Markdown
48 lines
1.8 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 7
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1 “Is not all human life a struggle?
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Our lives are like that of a hired hand,
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2 like a worker who longs for the shade,
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like a servant waiting to be paid.
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3 I, too, have been assigned months of futility,
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long and weary nights of misery.
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4 Lying in bed, I think, ‘When will it be morning?’
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But the night drags on, and I toss till dawn.
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5 My body is covered with maggots and scabs.
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My skin breaks open, oozing with pus.
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6 “My days fly faster than a weaver’s shuttle.
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They end without hope.
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7 O God, remember that my life is but a breath,
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and I will never again feel happiness.
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8 You see me now, but not for long.
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You will look for me, but I will be gone.
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9 Just as a cloud dissipates and vanishes,
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those who die will not come back.
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10 They are gone forever from their home—
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never to be seen again.
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11 “I cannot keep from speaking.
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I must express my anguish.
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My bitter soul must complain.
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12 Am I a sea monster or a dragon
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that you must place me under guard?
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13 I think, ‘My bed will comfort me,
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and sleep will ease my misery,’
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14 but then you shatter me with dreams
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and terrify me with visions.
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15 I would rather be strangled—
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rather die than suffer like this.
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16 I hate my life and don’t want to go on living.
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Oh, leave me alone for my few remaining days.
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17 “What are people, that you should make so much of us,
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that you should think of us so often?
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18 For you examine us every morning
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and test us every moment.
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19 Why won’t you leave me alone,
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at least long enough for me to swallow!
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20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you,
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O watcher of all humanity?
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Why make me your target?
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Am I a burden to you?
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21 Why not just forgive my sin
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and take away my guilt?
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For soon I will lie down in the dust and die.
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When you look for me, I will be gone.” |