⁴ “Show me, Lord, my life’s end
    and the number of my days;
    let me know how fleeting my life is.
⁵ You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
    the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Everyone is but a breath,
    even those who seem secure.^[b]

⁶ “Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom;
    in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth
    without knowing whose it will finally be.

⁷ “But now, Lord, what do I look for?
    My hope is in you.
⁸ Save me from all my transgressions;
    do not make me the scorn of fools.
⁹ I was silent; I would not open my mouth,
    for you are the one who has done this.
¹⁰ Remove your scourge from me;
    I am overcome by the blow of your hand.
¹¹ When you rebuke and discipline anyone for their sin,
    you consume their wealth like a moth—
    surely everyone is but a breath.

¹² “Hear my prayer, Lord,
    listen to my cry for help;
    do not be deaf to my weeping.
I dwell with you as a foreigner,
    a stranger, as all my ancestors were.
¹³ Look away from me, that I may enjoy life again
    before I depart and am no more.”