| 1. | "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. |
| 2. | He comes forth like a flower, and withers; he flees like a shadow, and continues not. |
| 3. | And dost thou open thy eyes upon such a one and bring him into judgment with thee? |
| 4. | Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one. |
| 5. | Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with thee, and thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass, |
| 6. | look away from him, and desist, that he may enjoy, like a hireling, his day. |
| 7. | "For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease. |
| 8. | Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stump die in the ground, |
| 9. | yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth branches like a young plant. |
| 10. | But man dies, and is laid low; man breathes his last, and where is he? |
| 11. | As waters fail from a lake, and a river wastes away and dries up, |
| 12. | so man lies down and rises not again; till the heavens are no more he will not awake, or be roused out of his sleep. |
| 13. | Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol, that thou wouldest conceal me until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! |
| 14. | If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my release should come. |
| 15. | Thou wouldest call, and I would answer thee; thou wouldest long for the work of thy hands. |
| 16. | For then thou wouldest number my steps, thou wouldest not keep watch over my sin; |
| 17. | my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and thou wouldest cover over my iniquity. |
| 18. | "But the mountain falls and crumbles away, and the rock is removed from its place; |
| 19. | the waters wear away the stones; the torrents wash away the soil of the earth; so thou destroyest the hope of man. |
| 20. | Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passes; thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away. |
| 21. | His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; they are brought low, and he perceives it not. |
| 22. | He feels only the pain of his own body, and he mourns only for himself." |
