7: 1 Is there not a ⁶³warfare to man upon earth? And are not his days like the days of a hireling?
⁶³Or, time of service to man upon earth

7: 2 As a servant that earnestly desireth the shadow, And as a hireling that looketh for his wages:
7: 3 So am I made to possess months of misery, And wearisome nights are appointed to me.
7: 4 When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the evening be gone? And I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.
7: 5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; My skin ⁶⁴closeth up, and breaketh out afresh.
⁶⁴Or, is broken and become loathsome.

7: 6 My days are ⁶⁵swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, And are spent without hope.
⁶⁵Lit. lighter

7: 7 Oh remember that my life is a ⁶⁶breath: Mine eye shall no more see good.
⁶⁶Or, wind: or, spirit: Hb. חור, ruach.

7: 8 The eye of him that seeth me shall behold me no more. Thine eyes shall be upon me, but I shall not be.
7: 9 As the cloud is consumed 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 any more.
7: 11 Therefore I will not refrain 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 watch over 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, And death rather than these my bones.
7: 16 ⁶⁷I loathe my life; I ⁶⁸would not live alway: Let me alone; for my days are ⁶⁹vanity.
⁶⁷Or, I waste away;
⁶⁸Or, shall not live alway:
⁶⁹Or, as a breath.

7: 17 What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him, And that thou shouldest set thy mind upon him,
7: 18 And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, And try 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 If I have sinned, ⁷⁰what do I unto thee, O thou ⁷¹watcher of men? Why hast thou set me as a mark for thee, So that I am a burden ⁷²unto Thee?
⁷⁰Or, what can I do unto thee,
⁷¹Or, preserver of man
⁷²Sopherim changed to, to myself

7: 21 And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? For now shall I lie down in the dust; And thou wilt seek me diligently, but I shall not be.