1. Isn’t slavery everyone’s condition on earth,our days like those of a hired worker?
2. Like a slave we pant for a shadow,await our task like a hired worker.
3. So I have inherited months of emptiness;nights of toil have been measured out for me.
4. If I lie down and think—When will I get up?—night drags on, and restless thoughts fill me until dawn.
5. My flesh is covered with worms and crusted earth;my skin hardens and oozes.
6. My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle;they reach their end without hope.
7. Remember that my life is wind;my eyes won’t see pleasure again.
8. The eye that sees me now will no longer look on me;your eyes will be on me, and I won’t exist.
9. A cloud breaks apart and moves on—like the one who descends to the grave and won’t rise,
10. won’t return home again,won’t be recognized in town anymore.
11. But I won’t keep quiet;I will speak in the adversity of my spirit,groan in the bitterness of my life.
12. Am I Sea or the Sea Monsterthat you place me under guard?
13. If I say, "My couch will comfort me,"my bed will diminish my murmuring.
14. You scare me with dreams,frighten me with visions.