[1] “Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand? [2] Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hireling he waits for his wages. [3] So I am allotted months of futility, and nights of misery are appointed to me. [4] When I lie down I think: ‘When will I get up?’ But the night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn. [5] My flesh is clothed with worms and encrusted with dirt; my skin is cracked and festering. [6] My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope. [7] Remember that my life is but a breath. My eyes will never again see happiness. [8] The eye that beholds me will no longer see me. You will look for me, but I will be no more. [9] As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up. [10] He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more. [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 the sea, or the monster of the deep, that You must keep me under guard? [13] When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, [14] then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions, [15] so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body. [16] I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath. [17] What is man that You should exalt him, that You should set Your heart upon him, [18] that You attend to him every morning, and test him every moment? [19] Will You never look away from me, or leave me alone to swallow my spittle? [20] If I have sinned, what have I done to You, O watcher of mankind? Why have You made me Your target, so that I am a burden to You? [21] Why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For soon I will lie down in the dust; You will seek me, but I will be no more.”
