¹“A human being born of a woman is short of days and full of troubles. ²Like a flower he comes up, and he withers away; and he flees like a shadow, but he does not last. ³Even on such a one you fix your eyes, and you bring me into judgment with you. ⁴“Who can bring a clean thing from an unclean thing? No one! ⁵If his days are determined, the number of his months is with you; you have appointed his boundaries, and he cannot cross them. ⁶Look away from him, and let him desist until he enjoys his days like a laborer. ⁷“Indeed, there is hope for a tree: if it is cut down, then it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not cease; ⁸though its root grows old in the earth, and its stump dies in the dust, ⁹at the scent of water it will bud, and it will put forth branches like a young plant. ¹⁰“But a man dies, and he dwindles away; thus a human being passes away, and where is he? ¹¹As water disappears from a lake, and a river withers away and dries up, ¹²⌞so⌟ a man lies down, and he does not arise. ⌞Until the heavens are no more⌟, they will not awaken, and they will not be roused out of their sleep. ¹³“⌞O that⌟ you would conceal me in Sheol, that you would hide me ⌞until your wrath is past⌟, that you would appoint a set time for me and remember me. ¹⁴If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my compulsory service I will wait, until the coming of my relief. ¹⁵You would call, and I myself would answer you; you would long for the work of your hand. ¹⁶For then you would count my steps, but you would not keep watch over my sin. ¹⁷My transgression would be sealed in a bag, and you would cover over my guilt. ¹⁸“But a mountain falls; it crumbles away, and a rock moves away from its place. ¹⁹Water wears away stones; its torrents wash away the soil of the earth; so you destroy the hope of human beings. ²⁰You overpower him forever, and he passes away; you change ⌞his countenance⌟, ⌞then⌟ you send him away. ²¹His children may come to honor, but he does not know it; or they may become lowly, but he does not realize it. ²²He feels only the pain of his own body, and his inner self mourns for him.”