[1] "How mankind must struggle. A man's life is long and hard, like that of a slave. [2] How he longs for the day to end. How he grinds on to the end of the week and his wages. [3] And so to me also have been allotted months of frustration, these long and weary nights. [4] When I go to bed I think, 'Oh, that it were morning,' and then I toss till dawn. [5] "My skin is filled with worms and blackness. My flesh breaks open, full of pus. [6] My life drags by-day after hopeless day. [7] My life is but a breath, and nothing good is left. [8] You see me now, but not for long. Soon you'll look upon me dead. [9] As a cloud disperses and vanishes, so those who die shall go away forever- [10] gone forever from their family and their home-never to be seen again. [11] Ah, let me express my anguish. Let me be free to speak out of the bitterness of my soul. [12] "O God, am I some monster that you never leave me alone? [13] Even when I try to forget my misery in sleep, you terrify with nightmares. [15] I would rather die of strangulation than go on and on like this. [16] I hate my life. Oh, leave me alone for these few remaining days. [17] What is mere man that you should spend your time persecuting him? [18] Must you be his inquisitor every morning and test him every moment of the day? [19] Why won't you leave me alone-even long enough to spit? [20] "Has my sin harmed you, O God, watcher of mankind? Why have you made me your target, and made my life so heavy a burden to me? [21] Why not just pardon my sin and take it all away? For all too soon I'll lie down in the dust and die, and when you look for me, I shall be gone."
