1 Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth ? are not his days also like the days of an hireling ?
2 As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow , and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work :
3 So am I made to possess months of vanity , and wearisome nights are appointed to me.
4 When I lie down , I say, When shall I arise , and the night be gone ? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.
5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust ; my skin is broken , and become loathsome .
6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle , and are spent without hope .
7 O remember that my life is wind : mine eye shall no more see good .
8 The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more : thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.
9 As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away : so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more .
10 He shall return no more to his house , neither shall his place know him any more .
11 Therefore I will not refrain my mouth ; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit ; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul .
12 Am I a sea, or a whale , that thou settest a watch over me?
13 When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint ;
14 Then thou scarest me with dreams , and terrifiest me through visions :
15 So that my soul chooseth strangling , and death rather than my life .
16 I loathe it; I would not live alway : let me alone ; for my days are vanity .
17 What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?
18 And that thou shouldest visit him every morning , and try him every moment ?
19 How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle ?
20 I have sinned ; what shall I do unto thee , O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee , so that I am a burden to myself ?
21 And why dost thou not pardon my transgression , and take away mine iniquity ? for now shall I sleep in the dust ; and thou shalt seek me in the morning , but I shall not be.