1 “ Is not man made to work on earth? Are not his days like the days of a man paid to work?

2 L ike a servant who desires to be out of the sun, and like a working man who waits for his pay,

3 I am given months of pain and nights of suffering for no reason.

4 W hen I lie down I say, ‘When will I get up?’ But the night is long, and I am always turning from side to side until morning.

5 M y flesh is covered with worms and dirt. My skin becomes hard and breaks open.

6 M y days are faster than a cloth-maker’s tool, and come to their end without hope.

7 “ Remember that my life is only a breath. My eye will not again see good.

8 T he eye of him who sees me will see me no more. Your eyes will be on me, but I will be gone.

9 W hen a cloud goes away, it is gone. And he who goes down to the place of the dead does not come back.

10 H e will not return to his house, and his place will not know him any more.

11 “ So I will not keep my mouth shut. I will speak in the suffering of my spirit. I will complain because my soul is bitter.

12 A m I the sea, or a large sea animal, that You put someone to watch me?

13 W hen I say, ‘My bed will comfort me, and there I will find rest from my complaining,’

14 t hen You send dreams to me which fill me with fear.

15 S o a quick death by having my breath stopped would be better to me than my pains.

16 I hate my life. I will not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are only a breath.

17 W hat is man, that You make so much of him? Why do You care about him,

18 t hat You look at him every morning, and test him all the time?

19 H ow long will it be until You look away from me? Will You not let me alone until I swallow my spit?

20 H ave I sinned? What have I done to You, O watcher of men? Why have you made me something to shoot at, so that I am a problem to myself?

21 W hy then do You not forgive my wrong-doing and take away my sin? For now I will lie down in the dust. You will look for me, but I will not be.”