¹“Is not man conscripted to labor on earth,[#7:1 Lit Has not man compulsory labor]

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,

³So 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,’

¹⁴Then You frighten me with dreams

And terrify me by visions,

¹⁵So 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,

¹⁸That You examine him every morning[#7:18 Or care for , cf. Ps 8:4]

And test him every moment?

¹⁹“Will You never turn Your gaze away from me,[#7:19 Lit How long will You not]

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.”