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7:1  “Is not man’s life on earth an exhausting one, and are not his days like those of a hired laborer?
7:2  Like a slave who sighs for the evening shade and like a laborer who is bent upon his wages,
7:3  so have I been forced to endure months of futility, and nights of grief have been inflicted on me.
7:4  “When I lie in bed, I wonder, ‘When will the daylight come so that I may rise?’ But the night drags on, and I toss restlessly until the dawn.
7:5  My body is infected with worms and scabs; my skin is cracked and festering.
7:6  “My days pass more swiftly than a weaver’s shuttle, and they come to an end without a glimmer of hope.
7:7  “Remember that my life is but a breath of wind; my eyes will never again see happiness.
7:8  The eye that now sees me will see me no more; I will vanish before your very eyes.
7:9  As a cloud vanishes and is no more, so the one who descends to the netherworld will never come up again.
7:10  He will never again return to his home, nor will he be remembered anymore.
7:11  “Therefore, I will not restrain my mouth. I will speak out in my anguish of spirit, and I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
7:12  Am I a monster of the deep, or a sea serpent, that you place me under guard?
7:13  When I say, ‘I will find comfort in my bed, and my couch will soothe my complaints,’
7:14  you then frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions,
7:15  so that I would prefer to be strangled and to endure death rather than my sufferings.
7:16  My life is ebbing away; I cannot live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
7:17  “What is man, that you make so much of him or pay him any mind?
7:18  You examine him every morning and test him every moment of the day.
7:19  “Will you never take your eyes from me, or let me alone long enough to swallow my saliva?
7:20  If I have sinned, what harm have I done to you, O watcher of humanity? Why have you designated me to be your target? Why have I become a burden to you?
7:21  Why do you not pardon my offenses and forgive my iniquity? For soon I will lie down in the dust; you will search for me, but I will be no more.”