| 1 | The life of a man on the earth is a battle, and his days are like the days of a hired hand. |
| 2 | Just as a servant desires the shade, and just as the hired hand looks forward to the end of his work, |
| 3 | so also have I had empty months and have counted my burdensome nights. |
| 4 | If I lie down to sleep, I will say, "When will I rise?" And next I will hope for the evening and will be filled with sorrows even until darkness. |
| 5 | My flesh is clothed with particles of rottenness and filth; my skin is dried up and tightened. |
| 6 | My days have passed by more quickly than threads are cut by a weaver, and they have been consumed without any hope. |
| 7 | Remember that my life is wind, and my eye will not return to see good things. |
| 8 | Neither will the sight of man gaze upon me; your eyes are upon me, and I will not endure. |
| 9 | Just as a cloud is consumed and passes away, so he who descends to hell will not ascend. |
| 10 | He will not return again to his house, nor will his own place know him any longer. |
| 11 | And because of this, I will not restrain my mouth. I will speak in the affliction of my spirit. I will converse from the bitterness of my soul. |
| 12 | Am I an ocean or a whale, that you have encircled me in a prison? |
| 13 | If I say, "My bed will comfort me, and I will find rest, speaking with myself on my blanket," |
| 14 | then you will frighten me with dreams, and strike dread through visions, |
| 15 | so that, because of these things, my soul would choose hanging, and my bones, death. |
| 16 | I despair; by no means will I live any longer. Spare me, for my days are nothing. |
| 17 | What is man, that you should praise him? Or why do you place your heart near him? |
| 18 | You visit him at dawn, and you test him unexpectedly. |
| 19 | How long will you not spare me, nor release me to ingest my saliva? |
| 20 | I have sinned; what should I do for you, O keeper of men? Why have you set me against you, so that I have become burdensome even to myself? |
| 21 | Why do you not steal away my sin, and why do you not sweep away my iniquity? Behold, now I will sleep in the dust, and if you seek me in the morning, I will not remain. |
