1. Human life is like forced army service,like a life of hard manual labour,
2. like slaves longing for cool shade;like workers waiting for their pay.
3. Month after month I have nothing to live for;night after night brings me grief.
4. When I lie down to sleep, the hours drag;I toss all night and long for dawn.
5. My body is full of worms;it is covered with scabs;pus runs out of my sores.
6. My days pass by without hope,pass faster than a weaver's shuttle.
7. Remember, O God, my life is only a breath;my happiness has already ended.
8. You see me now, but never again.If you look for me, I'll be gone.
9-10. Like a cloud that fades and is gone,people die and never return;they are forgotten by all who knew them.
11. No! I can't be quiet!I am angry and bitter.I have to speak.
12. Why do you keep me under guard?Do you think I am a sea monster?
13. I lie down and try to rest;I look for relief from my pain.
14. But you — you terrify me with dreams;you send me visions and nightmares
15. until I would rather be strangledthan live in this miserable body.