| 1 | Is there not a warfare to man on earth? And as the days of an hireling his days? |
| 2 | As a servant desireth the shadow, And as a hireling expecteth his wage, |
| 3 | So I have been caused to inherit months of vanity, And nights of misery they numbered to me. |
| 4 | If I lay down then I said, `When do I rise!` And evening hath been measured, And I have been full of tossings till dawn. |
| 5 | Clothed hath been my flesh [with] worms, And a clod of dust, My skin hath been shrivelled and is loathsome, |
| 6 | My days swifter than a weaving machine, And they are consumed without hope. |
| 7 | Remember Thou that my life [is] a breath, Mine eye turneth not back to see good. |
| 8 | The eye of my beholder beholdeth me not. Thine eyes [are] upon me -- and I am not. |
| 9 | Consumed hath been a cloud, and it goeth, So he who is going down to Sheol cometh not up. |
| 10 | He turneth not again to his house, Nor doth his place discern him again. |
| 11 | Also I -- I withhold not my mouth -- I speak in the distress of my spirit, I talk in the bitterness of my soul. |
| 12 | A sea-[monster] am I, or a dragon, That thou settest over me a guard? |
| 13 | When I said, `My bed doth comfort me,` He taketh away in my talking my couch. |
| 14 | And thou hast affrighted me with dreams, And from visions thou terrifiest me, |
| 15 | And my soul chooseth strangling, Death rather than my bones. |
| 16 | I have wasted away -- not to the age do I live. Cease from me, for my days [are] vanity. |
| 17 | What [is] man that Thou dost magnify him? And that Thou settest unto him Thy heart? |
| 18 | And inspectest him in the mornings, In the evenings dost try him? |
| 19 | How long dost Thou not look from me? Thou dost not desist till I swallow my spittle. |
| 20 | I have sinned, what do I to Thee, O watcher of man? Why hast Thou set me for a mark to Thee, And I am for a burden to myself -- and what? |
| 21 | Thou dost not take away my transgression, And cause to pass away mine iniquity, Because now, for dust I lie down: And Thou hast sought me -- and I am not! |
