1  “Has not man a ^zhard service on earth,

and are not his days like the days of a hired hand?

2  Like a slave who longs for the shadow,

and like a hired hand who looks for his wages,

3  so I am allotted months of emptiness,

and ^anights of misery are apportioned to me.

4  When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I arise?’

But the night is long,

and I toss and turn till the dawn.

5  My flesh is clothed with ^bworms and dirt;

^cmy skin hardens, then breaks out afresh.

6  ^dMy days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle

and come to their end without hope.

7  ^e“Remember that my life is a breath;

my eye will never again see good.

8  ^fThe eye of him who sees me will behold me no more;

while your eyes are on me, I shall be gone.

9  As the cloud fades and vanishes,

so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up;

10  ^ghe returns no more to his house,

nor does ^hhis place know him anymore.

11  “Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;

I will ⁱcomplain in the ^jbitterness 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 dreams

and terrify me with visions,

15  so that I would ^kchoose strangling

and death rather than my bones.

16  ^lI loathe my life; I would not live forever.

Leave me alone, for my days are a ^mbreath.

17  ⁿWhat is man, that you make so much of him,

and that you set your heart on him,

18  ^ovisit him every morning

and test him every moment?

19  How long will you not ^plook away from me,

nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?

20  ^qIf I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind?

Why have you made me your ^rmark?

Why have I become a burden to you?

21  Why do you not ^spardon my transgression

and take away my iniquity?

For now I shall lie in the earth;

you will seek me, but I shall not be.”