1
|
“Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand? |
|
2
|
Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hireling he waits for his wages. |
|
3
|
So I am allotted months of futility, and nights of misery are appointed me. |
|
4
|
When I lie down I think: ‘When will I get up?’ But the night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn. |
|
5
|
My flesh is clothed with worms and encrusted with dirt; my skin is cracked and festering. |
|
6
|
My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope. |
|
7
|
Remember that my life is but a breath. My eyes will never again see happiness. |
|
8
|
The eye that beholds me will no longer see me. You will look for me, but I will be no more. |
|
9
|
As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up. |
|
10
|
He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more. |
|
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 the monster of the deep, that You must keep me under guard? |
|
13
|
When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, |
|
14
|
then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions, |
|
15
|
so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body. |
|
16
|
I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath. |
|
17
|
What is man that You should exalt him, that You should set Your heart upon him, |
|
18
|
that You attend to him every morning, and test him every moment? |
|
19
|
Will You never look away from me, or leave me alone to swallow my spittle? |
|
20
|
If I have sinned, what have I done to You, O watcher of mankind? Why have You made me Your target, so that I am a burden to You? |
|
21
|
Why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For soon I will lie down in the dust; You will seek me, but I will be no more.” |
|