1 “Is there not a time of hard service for a man upon earth?Are not his days also like the days of a hired worker?
2 Like a servant, he longs for the shade,and like a hired worker, he looks for his wages,
3 so I have been assigned months of futility,and nights of trouble have been appointed to me.
4 When I lie down, I say,‘When will I arise and the night be ended?’And I am full of restlessness until the dawn.
5 My flesh is covered with worms and caked with dirt;my skin is broken, and has become loathsome.
6 “My days fly more swiftly than a weaver’s shuttle,and are spent without hope.
7 Oh, remember that my life is a breath!My eye will never again see good.
8 The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more;your eyes will be on me, but I will be no more.
9 As the cloud disappears and vanishes away,so he who goes down to Sheol will come up no more.
10 He will never return to his house,and his place will not recognize him anymore.
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 a sea monster,that You set a guard over me?
13 When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,my couch will ease my complaint,’
14 then You scare me with dreamsand terrify me with visions,
15 so that my soul chooses strangling,even death rather than my life.
16 I loathe my life; I would not live forever;let me alone, for my days are emptiness.
17 “What is man, that You should exalt him,and that You should set Your heart on him,
18 and that You should visit him every morning,and test him every moment?
19 How long until You look away from me?Will You not let me alone until I swallow my saliva?
20 Have I sinned? What am I doing to You,O You watcher of men?Why have You set me as Your target,so that I am a burden to myself?
21 And why do You not pardon my transgressionand take away my iniquity?For now I will lie down in the dust;and You will seek me diligently, but I will not be.”