7 “People have a hard struggle on earth.
    Their life is like that of a hired worker.
² They are like a slave looking for cool shade
    or a hired worker waiting for payday.
³ Month after frustrating month has gone by.
    I have suffered night after night.
⁴ When I lie down, I think,
    ‘How long before it’s time to get up?’
The night drags on.
    I toss and turn until the sun comes up.
⁵ My skin is covered with worms and scabs.
    It is cracked and covered with sores.

⁶ “My days pass by faster than a weaver’s shuttle,^[a]
    and my life will end without hope.
⁷ God, remember, my life is like a breath.
    I will not get a second chance to enjoy it.
⁸ Those who see me now will never see me again.
    You watch me for a while, but then I am gone.
⁹ Just as clouds that come and go,
    people are put in the grave, never to rise again.
¹⁰ They don’t come back to their old homes.
    The people there would not know them.

¹¹ “So I will not be quiet!
    I will let my suffering spirit speak!
    I will let my bitter soul complain!
¹² Am I one of your enemies?
    Is that why you put a guard over me?^[b]
13 My bed should bring me comfort.
    My couch should give me rest and relief.
¹⁴ But when I lie down, you scare me with dreams;
    you frighten me with visions.
¹⁵ So I would rather be choked to death
    than to live like this.
¹⁶ I hate my life—I give up.
    I don’t want to live forever.
Leave me alone!
    My life means nothing.
¹⁷ God, why are people so important to you?
    Why do you even notice them?
¹⁸ Why do you visit them every morning
    and test them at every moment?
¹⁹ You never look away from me
    or leave me alone for a second.
²⁰ You are always watching us!
    If I sinned, would that hurt you?
Why have you made me your target?
    Have I become a problem for you?
²¹ Why don’t you just pardon me for doing wrong?
    Why don’t you just forgive me for my sins?
Soon I will die and be in my grave.
    You will search for me, but I will be gone.”