| 1. | Man born of woman is short-lived and full of trouble, |
| 2. | Like a flower that springs up and fades, swift as a shadow that does not abide. |
| 3. | Upon such a one will you cast your eyes so as to bring him into judgment before you, |
| 4. | Can a man be found who is clean of defilement? There is none, |
| 5. | however short his days. You know the number of his months; you have fixed the limit which he cannot pass. |
| 6. | Look away from him and let him be, while, like a hireling, he completes his day. |
| 7. | For a tree there is hope, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again and that its tender shoots will not cease. |
| 8. | Even though its root grow old in the earth, and its stump die in the dust, |
| 9. | Yet at the first whiff of water it may flourish again and put forth branches like a young plant. |
| 10. | But when a man dies, all vigor leaves him; when man expires, where then is he? |
| 11. | As when the waters of a lake fail, or a stream grows dry and parches, |
| 12. | So men lie down and rise not again. Till the heavens are no more, they shall not awake, nor be roused out of their sleep. |
| 13. | Oh, that you would hide me in the nether world and keep me sheltered till your wrath is past; would fix a time for me, and then remember me! |
| 14. | When a man has died, were he to live again, all the days of my drudgery I would wait, until my relief should come. |
| 15. | You would call, and I would answer you; you would esteem the work of your hands. |
| 16. | Surely then you would count my steps, and not keep watch for sin in me. |
| 17. | My misdeeds would be sealed up in a pouch, and you would cover over my guilt. |
| 18. | But as a mountain falls at last and its rock is moved from its place, |
| 19. | As waters wear away the stones and floods wash away the soil of the land, so you destroy the hope of man. |
| 20. | You prevail once for all against him and he passes on; with changed appearance you send him away. |
| 21. | If his sons are honored, he is not aware of it; if they are in disgrace, he does not know about them. |
| 22. | Only his own flesh pains him, and his soul grieves for him. |
