“The eye of him who sees me will behold me no longer;
Your eyes will be on me, but I will not be.

“He will not return again to his house,
Nor will his place know him anymore.

“Am I the sea, or the sea monster,
That You set a guard over me?

“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.

“If I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
My couch will ease my complaint,’

“Why then do You not pardon my transgression
And take away my iniquity?
For now I will lie down in the dust;
And You will seek me, but I will not be.”

Then You frighten me with dreams
And terrify me by visions;

“I waste away; I will not live forever.
Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.

So that my soul would choose suffocation,
Death rather than my pains.

“What is man that You magnify him,
And that You are concerned about him,

“Have I sinned? What have I done to You,
O watcher of men?
Why have You set me as Your target,
So that I am a burden to myself?

“Will You never turn Your gaze away from me,
Nor let me alone until I swallow my spittle?

“Remember that my life is but breath;
My eye will not again see good.

“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
And come to an end without hope.

So am I allotted months of vanity,
And nights of trouble are appointed me.

That You examine him every morning
And try him every moment?

“When I lie down I say,
‘When shall I arise?’
But the night continues,
And I am continually tossing until dawn.

“As a slave who pants for the shade,
And as a hired man who eagerly waits for his wages,

“My flesh is clothed with worms and a crust of dirt,
My skin hardens and runs.

“Is not man forced to labor on earth,
And are not his days like the days of a hired man?

“When a cloud vanishes, it is gone,
So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up.