1 Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?

1 Militia est vita hominis super terram,
et sicut dies mercenarii dies ejus.

2 As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work:

2 Sicut servus desiderat umbram,
et sicut mercenarius præstolatur finem operis sui,

3 So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.

3 sic et ego habui menses vacuos,
et noctes laboriosas enumeravi mihi.

4 When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.

4 Si dormiero, dicam: Quando consurgam?
et rursum expectabo vesperam,
et replebor doloribus usque ad tenebras.

5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome.

5 Induta est caro mea putredine,
et sordibus pulveris cutis mea aruit et contracta est.

6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.

6 Dies mei velocius transierunt quam a texente tela succiditur,
et consumpti sunt absque ulla spe.

7 O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good.

7 Memento quia ventus est vita mea,
et non revertetur oculus meus ut videat bona.

8 The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.

8 Nec aspiciet me visus hominis;
oculi tui in me, et non subsistam.

9 As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.

9 Sicut consumitur nubes, et pertransit,
sic qui descenderit ad inferos, non ascendet.

10 He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.

10 Nec revertetur ultra in domum suam,
neque cognoscet eum amplius locus ejus.

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.

11 Quapropter et ego non parcam ori meo:
loquar in tribulatione spiritus mei;
confabulabor cum amaritudine animæ meæ.

12 Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me?

12 Numquid mare ego sum, aut cetus,
quia circumdedisti me carcere?

13 When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;

13 Si dixero: Consolabitur me lectulus meus,
et relevabor loquens mecum in strato meo:

14 Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions:

14 terrebis me per somnia,
et per visiones horrore concuties.

15 So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.

15 Quam ob rem elegit suspendium anima mea,
et mortem ossa mea.

16 I loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity.

16 Desperavi: nequaquam ultra jam vivam:
parce mihi, nihil enim sunt dies mei.

17 What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?

17 Quid est homo, quia magnificas eum?
aut quid apponis erga eum cor tuum?

18 And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment?

18 Visitas eum diluculo,
et subito probas illum.

19 How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?

19 Usquequo non parcis mihi,
nec dimittis me ut glutiam salivam meam?

20 I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?

20 Peccavi; quid faciam tibi, o custos hominum?
quare posuisti me contrarium tibi,
et factus sum mihimetipsi gravis?

21 And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.

21 Cur non tollis peccatum meum,
et quare non aufers iniquitatem meam?
ecce nunc in pulvere dormiam,
et si mane me quæsieris, non subsistam.