The Brevity of Life

7:1 “Does not humanity have hard service1 on earth?

Are not their days also

like the days of a hired man?2

7:2 Like a servant3 longing for the evening shadow,4

and like a hired man looking5 for his wages,6

7:3 thus7 I have been made to inherit8

months of futility,9

and nights of sorrow10

have been appointed11 to me.

7:4 If I lie down, I say,12 ‘When will I arise?’,

and the night stretches on13

and I toss and turn restlessly14

until the day dawns.

7:5 My body15 is clothed16 with worms17 and dirty scabs;18

my skin is broken19 and festering.

7:6 My days20 are swifter21 than a weaver’s shuttle22

and they come to an end without hope.23

7:7 Remember24 that my life is but a breath,

that25 my eyes will never again26 see happiness.

7:8 The eye of him who sees me now will see me no more;27

your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone.28

7:9 As29 a cloud is dispersed and then disappears,30

so the one who goes down to the grave31

does not come up again.32

7:10 He returns no more to his house,

nor does his place of residence33 know him34 any more.