Job 7:1

“Does not humanity have hard service ¹  on earth? Are not their days also like the days of a hired man? ² 

"Does not man have hard service on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired man?

"Is not man forced to labor on earth, And are not his days like the days of a hired man?

"Is this not the struggle of all humanity? A person’s life is long and hard, like that of a hired hand,

"Human life is a struggle, isn't it? It's a life sentence to hard labor.

Has not man his ordered time of trouble on the earth? and are not his days like the days of a servant working for payment?

"Do not human beings have a hard service on earth, and are not their days like the days of a laborer?

" Is there not a time of hard service for man on earth? Are not his days also like the days of a hired man?

“Does not humanity have hard service ¹  on earth? Are not their days also like the days of a hired man? ² 

¹ tn The word צָבָא (tsava’) is actually “army”; it can be used for the hard service of military service as well as other toil. As a military term it would include the fixed period of duty (the time) and the hard work (toil). Job here is considering the lot of all humans, not just himself.

² tn The שָׂכִיר (sakhir) is a hired man, either a man who works for wages, or a mercenary soldier (Jer 46:21). The latter sense may be what is intended here in view of the parallelism, although the next verse seems much broader.