¹“Isn’t a man forced to labor on earth? Aren’t his days like the days of a hired hand?

¹Lei tungah mihing adin kidouna a om kei mo? huan a nite kilohmi nite bang ahi ka hia?

²As a servant who earnestly desires the shadow, as a hireling who looks for his wages,

²Lim deih mahmah sikha bangin, a loh lamen kilohmi bangin:

³so am I made to possess months of misery, wearisome nights are appointed to me.

³Huaibangin bangmahlou khate nei dinga bawl ka hi, huan kei adingin jan chimhuaite seh ahi hi.

⁴When I lie down, I say, ‘When shall I arise, and the night be gone?’ I toss and turn until the dawning of the day.

⁴Ka lup chiangin, Chikchiangin ka thou dia? ka chi a; himahleh jan a sawt hi; huan khatlam khatlamah ni suah matan kilumlehnain ka dim hi.

⁵My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust. My skin closes up, and breaks out afresh.

⁵Ka sa than leh leivui khalin a tuama; ka vun a kimata a puakkham thak hi.

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

⁶Ka nite siamganmi khohthei sangin a kin jawa, lametna beia zatbei ahi.

⁷Oh remember that my life is a breath. My eye shall no more see good.

⁷Aw ka hinna huih ahi chih theigige in: ka mitin hoih a mu nawn kei ding hi.

⁸The eye of him who sees me shall see me no more. Your eyes shall be on me, but I shall not be.

⁸Kei honmu mitin honen thei nawn takei dinga; na mitte ka tugnah a om ding ua, himahleh ka omta kei ding hi.

⁹As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to Sheol Sheol is the place of the dead. shall come up no more.

⁹Meipi a mangthanga a omta kei bangin, huchiin kuapeuh Seola pai suk a hongpai tou nawnta kei uhi.

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

¹⁰A in ah a kik nawnta kei dinga, a munin amah a thei nawnta kei ding hi.

¹¹“Therefore I will not keep silent. I will speak in the anguish of my spirit. I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

¹¹Huaijiakin ka kam ka khou kei dinga; ka lungsim gimnaah thu ka gen ding; ka kha haksatna ah ka phun ding hi.

¹²Am I a sea, or a sea monster, that you put a guard over me?

¹²Tuipi ka hi hia, a hihkeileh tuipiganhinglian, huchia kei na honchin nak?

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

¹³Ka lupnain honlungmuan dinga, ka tutna nemin ka phunna a jangkhaisak ding, ka chih chiangin;

¹⁴then you scare me with dreams, and terrify me through visions:

¹⁴Huaichiangin mangtein na honlau saka, mengmuhnatein na honmulkimsak hi:

¹⁵so that my soul chooses strangling, death rather than my bones.

¹⁵Huchiin ka khain heklup leh sihna a tela, hiai ka guhte sangin.

¹⁶I loathe my life. I don’t want to live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.

¹⁶Ka hinna ka chimtaka; ka hing gige kei ding: honom sak maimai un; ka nite lah bangmahlou ahi ngala.

¹⁷What is man, that you should magnify him, that you should set your mind on him,

¹⁷Mihing bang ahi, amah na hihlet dinga, amah tunga na lungtang na koih dinga.

¹⁸that you should visit him every morning, and test him every moment?

¹⁸Jingsang tenga amah na veh dinga, mitphiat chiha amah na ettel ding?

¹⁹How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone until I swallow down my spittle?

¹⁹Bangtan vei kei honlehngatsan lou ding na hia, bangtanvei ka chil ka nawmvalh matan honomsak maimai lou ding na hia?

²⁰If I have sinned, what do I do to you, you watcher of men? Why have you set me as a mark for you, so that I am a burden to myself?

²⁰Na khial hita leng, na tungah bang ka hiha, Aw mite chingpa nang? bangdia nang adia chiamtehna banga konkoih na hia, huchia keimaha dia puakgik ka hih maimah?Huan bangdia ka tatlekna ngaidam loua, ka thulimlohna la mang lou oi? Kei tuin leivuia lum ding ka hi a; kuhkaltakin na honzong dia, himahleh ka omta kei ding.

²¹Why do you not pardon my disobedience, and take away my iniquity? For now shall I lie down in the dust. You will seek me diligently, but I shall not be.”

²¹Huan bangdia ka tatlekna ngaidam loua, ka thulimlohna la mang lou oi? Kei tuin leivuia lum ding ka hi a; kuhkaltakin na honzong dia, himahleh ka omta kei ding.