1: [Is there] not an appointed time to man upon earth? [are not] his days also like the days of a hireling? 2: As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as a hireling looketh for [the reward of] his work; 3: So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me. 4: When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro to the dawning of the day. 5: My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken and become lothsome. 6: My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope. 7: O remember that my life [is] wind: my eye will no more see good. 8: The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no [more]: thy eyes [are] upon me, and I [am] not. 9: [As] the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no [more]. 10: He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any 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 a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me? 13: When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint; 14: Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions: 15: So that my soul chooseth strangling, [and] death rather than my life. 16: I lothe [it]; I would not live always: let me alone; for my days [are] vanity. 17: What [is] man, that thou shouldst magnify him? and that thou shouldst set thy heart upon him? 18: And [that] thou shouldst visit him every morning, [and] try him every moment? 19: How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow my spittle? 20: I have sinned; what shall I do to thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself? 21: And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I [shall] not [be].
