¹ “Is not man’s life on earth an exhausting one,
    and are not his days like those of a hired laborer?
² Like a slave who sighs for the evening shade
    and like a laborer who is bent upon his wages,
³ so have I been forced to endure months of futility,
    and nights of grief have been inflicted on me.
⁴ “When I lie in bed, I wonder,
    ‘When will the daylight come so that I may rise?’
But the night drags on,
    and I toss restlessly until the dawn.
⁵ My body is infected with worms and scabs;
    my skin is cracked and festering.

⁶ “My days pass more swiftly than a weaver’s shuttle,
    and they come to an end without a glimmer of hope.
⁷ “Remember that my life is but a breath of wind;
    my eyes will never again see happiness.
⁸ The eye that now sees me will see me no more;
    I will vanish before your very eyes.
⁹ As a cloud vanishes and is no more,
    so the one who descends to the netherworld^[c] will never come up again.
¹⁰ He will never again return to his home,
    nor will he be remembered anymore.
¹¹ “Therefore, I will not restrain my mouth.
    I will speak out in my anguish of spirit,
    and I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
¹² Am I a monster of the deep, or a sea serpent,
    that you place me under guard?^[d]
13 When I say, ‘I will find comfort in my bed,
    and my couch will soothe my complaints,’
¹⁴ you then frighten me with dreams
    and terrify me with visions,
¹⁵ so that I would prefer to be strangled
    and to endure death rather than my sufferings.
¹⁶ My life is ebbing away; I cannot live forever.
    Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.

¹⁷ “What is man, that you make so much of him
    or pay him any mind?
¹⁸ You examine him every morning
    and test him every moment of the day.
¹⁹ “Will you never take your eyes from me,
    or let me alone long enough to swallow my saliva?
²⁰ If I have sinned, what harm have I done to you,
    O watcher of humanity?
Why have you designated me to be your target?
    Why have I become a burden to you?^[f]
21 Why do you not pardon my offenses
    and forgive my iniquity?
For soon I will lie down in the dust;
    you will search for me, but I will be no more.”