Is there not an appointed time
to man
upon earth?
are not his days
also like the days
of an hireling?
As a servant
earnestly desireth
the shadow,
and as an hireling
looketh
for the reward of his work:
So am I made to possess
months
of vanity,
and wearisome
nights
are appointed
to me.
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.
My flesh
is clothed
with worms
and clods
of dust;
my skin
is broken,
and become loathsome.
My days
are swifter
than a weaver's shuttle,
and are spent
without
hope.
O remember
that my life
is wind:
mine eye
shall no more
see
good.
The eye
of him that hath seen
me shall see
me no more: thine eyes
are upon me, and I am not.
As the cloud
is consumed
and vanisheth away:
so he that goeth down
to the grave
shall come up
no more.
He shall return
no more to his house,
neither shall his place
know
him any more.
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.
Am I a sea,
or a whale,
that thou settest
a watch
over me?
When I say,
My bed
shall comfort
me, my couch
shall ease
my complaint;
Then thou scarest
me with dreams,
and terrifiest
me through visions:
So that my soul
chooseth
strangling,
and death
rather than my life.
I loathe
it; I would not live
alway:
let me alone;
for my days
are vanity.
What is man,
that thou shouldest magnify
him? and that thou shouldest set
thine heart
upon him?
And that thou shouldest visit
him every morning,
and try
him every moment?
How long
wilt thou not depart
from me, nor let me alone
till I swallow down
my spittle?
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?
accuser of
κατεντευκτήν
katenteuktēn
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.
