• 1 “Is not man conscripted to labor on earth, And are not his days like the days of a hired man?
  • 2 “As a slave who pants for the shade, And as a hired man who eagerly hopes for his wages,
  • 3 So am I apportioned months of worthlessness, And nights of trouble are appointed me.
  • 4 “If I lie down I say, ‘When shall I arise?’ But the twilight continues, And I am saturated with tossing until dawn.
  • 5 “My flesh is clothed with worms and a crust of dirt; My skin scabs over and flows out again.
  • 6 “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, And come to an end without hope.
  • 7 “Remember that my life is but wind; My eye will not again see good.
  • 8 “The eye of him who sees me will behold me no longer; Your eyes will be on me, but I will not be.
  • 9 “A cloud vanishes, and it is gone, So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up.
  • 10 “He will not return again to his house, Nor will his place recognize him anymore.
  • 11 “Indeed I will not hold back my mouth; I will speak in the distress of my spirit; I will muse on the bitterness of my soul.
  • 12 “Am I the sea or the sea monster, That You set a guard over me?
  • 13 “If I say, ‘My bed will comfort me; My couch will ease my bitter musing,’
  • 14 Then You frighten me with dreams And terrify me by visions,
  • 15 So that my soul would choose suffocation, Death rather than my pains.
  • 16 “I have rejected everything; I will not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
  • 17 “What is man that You magnify him, And that You set Your heart on him,
  • 18 That You examine him every morning And test him every moment?
  • 19 “Will You never turn Your gaze away from me, Nor let me alone until I swallow my spit?
  • 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 forgive my transgression And take away my iniquity? For now I will lie down in the dust; And You will seek me earnestly, but I will not be.”