7:1 Hath not man a life of labour upon earth? and are not his days like the days of a hireling?
7:2 As a bondman earnestly desireth the shadow, and a hireling expecteth his wages,
7:3 So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.
7:4 If I lie down, I say, When shall I rise up, and the darkness be gone? and I am full of tossings until the dawn.
7:5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and suppurates.
7:6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.
7:7 Remember thou that my life is wind; mine eye shall no more see good.
7:8 The eye of him that hath seen me shall behold me no [more]: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.
7:9 The cloud consumeth and vanisheth away; so he that goeth down to Sheol shall not come up.
7:10 He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him again.
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 a sea, or a sea-monster, that thou settest a watchover me?
7:13 When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;
7:14 Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions;
7:15 So that my soul chooseth strangling, death, rather than my bones.
7:16 I loathe it; I shall not live always: let me alone, for my days are a breath.
7:17 What is man, that thou makest much of him? and that thou settest thy heart upon him?
7:18 And that thou visitest him every morning, triest him every moment?
7:19 How long wilt thou not look away from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?
7:20 Have I sinned, what do I unto thee, thou Observer of men? Why hast thou set me as an object of assault for thee, so that I am become a burden to myself?
7:21 And why dost not thou forgive my transgression and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I lie down in the dust, and thou shalt seek me early, and I shall not be.