“Do not mortals have hard servicem on earth?n

Are not their days like those of hired laborers?o

2 Like a slave longing for the evening shadows,p

or a hired laborer waiting to be paid,q

3 so I have been allotted months of futility,

and nights of misery have been assigned to me.r

4 When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’s

The night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.t

5 My body is clothed with wormsu and scabs,

my skin is broken and festering.v

6 “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,w

and they come to an end without hope.x

7 Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath;y

my eyes will never see happiness again.z

8 The eye that now sees me will see me no longer;

you will look for me, but I will be no more.a

9 As a cloud vanishesb and is gone,

so one who goes down to the gravec does not return.d

10 He will never come to his house again;

his placee will know him no more.f