¹ “Man who is born of woman
Is of few days and full of trouble.

² He comes forth like a flower and fades away;
He flees like a shadow and does not continue.

³ And do You open Your eyes on such a one,
And bring me^[a] to judgment with Yourself?

⁴ Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
No one!

⁵ Since his days are determined,
The number of his months is with You;
You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.

⁶ Look away from him that he may rest,
Till like a hired man he finishes his day.

⁷ “For there is hope for a tree,
If it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
And that its tender shoots will not cease.

⁸ Though its root may grow old in the earth,
And its stump may die in the ground,

⁹ Yet at the scent of water it will bud
And bring forth branches like a plant.

¹⁰ But man dies and is laid away;
Indeed he breathes his last
And where is he?

¹¹ As water disappears from the sea,
And a river becomes parched and dries up,

¹² So man lies down and does not rise.
Till the heavens are no more,
They will not awake
Nor be roused from their sleep.

¹³ “Oh, that You would hide me in the grave,
That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past,
That You would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

¹⁴ If a man dies, shall he live again?
All the days of my hard service I will wait,
Till my change comes.

¹⁵ You shall call, and I will answer You;
You shall desire the work of Your hands.

¹⁶ For now You number my steps,
But do not watch over my sin.

¹⁷ My transgression is sealed up in a bag,
And You cover^[b] my iniquity.

¹⁸ “But as a mountain falls and crumbles away,
And as a rock is moved from its place;

¹⁹ As water wears away stones,
And as torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
So You destroy the hope of man.

²⁰ You prevail forever against him, and he passes on;
You change his countenance and send him away.

²¹ His sons come to honor, and he does not know it;
They are brought low, and he does not perceive it.

²² But his flesh will be in pain over it,
And his soul will mourn over it.”