Man, born of woman,{HR}Is of few days, and full of trouble,
Cometh forth as a flower, and is cut down,{HR}And he fleeth as a shadow, and abideth not,
And on such an one thou openest thine eyes!{HR}And me dost thou bring into judgment with thee?
Who giveth a clean out of an unclean thing? Not one!
If his days are determined,{HR}The number of his months with thee,{HR}Thou hast set his bound which he shall not pass.
Look away from him that he may rest,{HR}That he may enjoy as a hireling his day.
For there is hope for a tree if it be cut down,{HR}That it will shoot again, and its sprout fail not,
Though its root wax old in the earth,{HR}And its stump die in the dust:
Through the scent of water it flourisheth,{HR}And putteth forth like a young plant.
But man dieth, and is prostrate,{HR}And man expireth, and where is he?
Waters roll away from a sea,{HR}And the stream becometh waste and dry,
So man lieth down, and riseth not:{HR}Till the heavens [be] no more, they wake not,{HR}Nor are roused out of their sleep.
O that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol,{HR}Hide me till the turning of thine anger,{HR}Appoint me a set time, and then remember me!
If a man die, shall he live?{HR}All the days of my warfare would I wait{HR}Till my exchange should come.
Thou wouldest call, and I would answer thee:{HR}After the work of thine hands thou yearnest.
But now thou numberest my steps:{HR}Watchest thou not over my sins?
My transgression is sealed up in a bag,{HR}And thou sewest up mine iniquity.
And yet a falling mountain decayeth,{HR}And a rock is removed from its place,
Waters wear away stones,{HR}Its floodings sweep away the soil of the earth,{HR}And thou destroyest the hope of man,
To the last thou overpowerest him, and he goeth;{HR}Thou changest his face, and sendest him away.
His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not;{HR}And they are abased, and he perceiveth it not;
But his flesh in him hath pain,{HR}And his soul in him mourneth.