1. “Is there not a time of hard service for man on earth?Are not his days also like the days of a hired man?
2. Like a servant who earnestly desires the shade,And like a hired man who eagerly looks for his wages,
3. So I have been allotted months of futility,And wearisome nights have been appointed to me.
4. When I lie down, I say, ‘When shall I arise,And the night be ended?’For I have had my fill of tossing till dawn.
5. My flesh is caked with worms and dust,My skin is cracked and breaks out afresh.
6. “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,And are spent without hope.
7. Oh, remember that my life is a breath!My eye will never again see good.
8. The eye of him who sees me will see me no more;While your eyes are upon me, I shall no longer be.
9. As the cloud disappears and vanishes away,So he who goes down to the grave does not come up.
10. He shall never return to his house,Nor shall his place know him anymore.
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.