1
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Is there not a warfare to man on earth? And as the days of an hireling his days? |
2
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As a servant desireth the shadow, And as a hireling expecteth his wage, |
3
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So I have been caused to inherit months of vanity, And nights of misery they numbered to me. |
4
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If I lay down then I said, 'When do I rise!' And evening hath been measured, And I have been full of tossings till dawn. |
5
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Clothed hath been my flesh [with] worms, And a clod of dust, My skin hath been shrivelled and is loathsome, |
6
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My days swifter than a weaving machine, And they are consumed without hope. |
7
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Remember Thou that my life [is] a breath, Mine eye turneth not back to see good. |
8
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The eye of my beholder beholdeth me not. Thine eyes [are] upon me—and I am not. |
9
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Consumed hath been a cloud, and it goeth, So he who is going down to Sheol cometh not up. |
10
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He turneth not again to his house, Nor doth his place discern him again. |
11
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Also I—I withhold not my mouth—I speak in the distress of my spirit, I talk in the bitterness of my soul. |
12
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A sea-[monster] am I, or a dragon, That thou settest over me a guard? |
13
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When I said, 'My bed doth comfort me,' He taketh away in my talking my couch. |
14
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And thou hast affrighted me with dreams, And from visions thou terrifiest me, |
15
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And my soul chooseth strangling, Death rather than my bones. |
16
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I have wasted away—not to the age do I live. Cease from me, for my days [are] vanity. |
17
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What [is] man that Thou dost magnify him? And that Thou settest unto him Thy heart? |
18
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And inspectest him in the mornings, In the evenings dost try him? |
19
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How long dost Thou not look from me? Thou dost not desist till I swallow my spittle. |
20
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I have sinned, what do I to Thee, O watcher of man? Why hast Thou set me for a mark to Thee, And I am for a burden to myself—and what? |
21
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Thou dost not take away my transgression, And cause to pass away mine iniquity, Because now, for dust I lie down: And Thou hast sought me—and I am not! |