7:1 Isn't mankind consigned to forced labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?
7:2 Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hired man he waits for his pay.
7:3 So I have been made to inherit months of futility, and troubled nights have been assigned to me.
7:4 When I lie down I think: When will I get up? But the evening drags on endlessly, and I toss and turn until dawn.
7:5 My flesh is clothed with maggots and encrusted with dirt. My skin forms scabs and then oozes.
7:6 My days pass more swiftly than a weaver's shuttle; they come to an end without hope.
7:7 Remember that my life is but a breath. My eye will never again see anything good.
7:8 The eye of anyone who looks on me will no longer see me. Your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone.
7:9 As a cloud fades away and vanishes, so the one who goes down to Sheol will never rise again.
7:10 He will never return to his house; his hometown will no longer remember him.
7:11 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.
7:12 Am I the sea or a sea monster, that You keep me under guard?
7:13 When I say: My bed will comfort me, and my couch will ease my complaint,
7:14 then You frighten me with dreams, and terrify me with visions,
7:15 so that I prefer strangling-- death rather than life in this body.
7:16 I give up! I will not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are a breath.
7:17 What is man, that You think so highly of him and pay so much attention to him?
7:18 You inspect him every morning, and put him to the test every moment.
7:19 Will You ever look away from me, or leave me alone long enough to swallow?
7:20 If I have sinned, what have I done to You, Watcher of mankind? Why have You made me Your target, so that I have become a burden to You?
7:21 Why not forgive my sin and pardon my transgression? For soon I will lie down in the grave. You will eagerly seek me, but I will be gone.
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