Study Desk

Isn't mankind consigned to forced labor^(a) on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?

Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hired man he waits for his pay.

So I have been made to inherit months of futility, and troubled nights have been assigned to me.^(b)

When I lie down I think: When will I get up? But the evening drags on endlessly, and I toss and turn until dawn.

My flesh is clothed with maggots and encrusted with dirt.^[a] My skin forms scabs^[b] and then oozes.^(c)

My days pass more swiftly than a weaver's shuttle; they come to an end without hope.^(d)

Remember that my life is but a breath. My eye will never again see anything good.^(e)

The eye of anyone who looks on me will no longer see me. Your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone.^(f)

As a cloud fades away and vanishes, so the one who goes down to Sheol^(g) will never rise again.

He will never return to his house; his hometown will no longer remember^[c] him.^(h)

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.

Am I the sea^[d](i) or a sea monster,^(j) that You keep me under guard?

When I say: My bed will comfort me, and my couch will ease my complaint,

then You frighten me with dreams, and terrify me with visions,^(k)

so that I prefer strangling^[e]— death rather than life in this body.^[f](l)

I give up! I will not live forever. Leave me alone,^(m) for my days are a breath.^[g]

What is man, that You think so highly of him and pay so much attention to him?⁽ⁿ⁾

You inspect him every morning, and put him to the test every moment.^(o)

Will You ever look away from me, or leave me alone long enough to swallow?^[h]

If I have sinned, what have I done to You, Watcher of mankind? Why have You made me Your target,^(p) so that I have become a burden to You?^[i]

Why not forgive my sin and pardon my transgression?^(q) For soon I will lie down in the grave.^(r) You will eagerly seek me, but I will be gone.^(s)