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