1 “Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand? | | TOSK |
2 Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hireling he waits for his wages. | TOSK |
3 So I am allotted months of futility, and nights of misery are appointed me. | TOSK |
4 When I lie down I think: ‘When will I get up?’ But the night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn. | TOSK |
5 My flesh is clothed with worms and encrusted with dirt; my skin is cracked and festering. | TOSK |
6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope. | TOSK |
7 Remember that my life is but a breath. My eyes will never again see happiness. | TOSK |
8 The eye that beholds me will no longer see me. You will look for me, but I will be no more. | TOSK |
9 As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up. | TOSK |
10 He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more. | TOSK |
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. | TOSK |
12 Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that You must keep me under guard? | TOSK |
13 When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, | TOSK |
14 then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions, | TOSK |
15 so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body. | TOSK |
16 I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath. | TOSK |
17 What is man that You should exalt him, that You should set Your heart upon him, | IP¹ | IP² | TOSK | TT¹ | TT² |
18 that You attend to him every morning, and test him every moment? | TOSK |
19 Will You never look away from me, or leave me alone to swallow my spittle? | TOSK |
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? | TOSK |
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.” | TOSK |