1. Isn’t mankind consigned to forced labor on earth?Are not his days like those of a hired hand?
2. Like a slave he longs for shade;like a hired man he waits for his pay.
3. So I have been made to inherit months of futility,and troubled nights have been assigned to me.
4. When I lie down I think:When will I get up?But the evening drags on endlessly,and I toss and turn until dawn.
5. My flesh is clothed with maggots and encrusted with dirt. My skin forms scabs and then oozes.
6. My days pass more swiftly than a weaver’s shuttle;they come to an end without hope.
7. Remember that my life is but a breath.My eye will never again see anything good.
8. The eye of anyone who looks on mewill no longer see me.Your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone.