1 "We have only a few days to live. 1 Our lives are full of trouble.
2 We grow like flowers, and then we dry up. 2 We are like shadows that quickly disappear.
3 God, why do you keep looking at someone like me? 3 Are you planning to take me to court?
4 Who can bring what is pure from something that isn't pure? 4 No one!
5 You are the one who decides how long we'll live. 5 You have established the number of our months. 5 You have set a limit to the number of our days.
6 So look away from us. Leave us alone. 6 Let us put in our time like hired workers.
7 "At least there is hope for a tree. 7 If it's cut down, it will begin to grow again. 7 New branches will appear on it.
8 Its roots may grow old in the ground. 8 Its stump may die in the soil.
9 But when it smells water, it will begin to grow. 9 It will send out new growth like a plant.
10 We aren't like that. When we die, we are buried in graves. 10 We take our last breath. Then we're gone.
11 Water disappears from lakes. 11 Riverbeds become empty and dry.
12 In the same way, we lie down and never get up. 12 We won't wake up or rise from our sleep 12 until the heavens are gone.
13 "I wish you would hide me in a grave! 13 I wish you would cover me up until your anger passes by! 13 I wish you would set the time for me to spend in the grave 13 and then bring me back up!
14 If we die, will we live again? 14 All the days of my hard work 14 I will wait for the time when you give me new life.
15 You will call out to me, and I will answer you. 15 Your hands created me. So you will long for me.
16 Then you will count every step I take. 16 But you won't keep track of my sin.
17 The wrong things I've done will be sealed up in a bag. 17 You will wipe out my sins by forgiving them.
18 "A mountain wears away and crumbles. 18 A rock is moved from its place.
19 Water wears stones away. 19 Storms wash soil away. 19 In the same way, you destroy our hope.
20 You overpower us completely, and then we're gone. 20 You change the way we look and send us to our graves.
21 If our children are honored, we don't even know it. 21 If they are dishonored, we don't even see it.
22 All we feel is the pain of our own bodies. 22 We are full of sadness only for ourselves."
