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

⁶ “Surely everyone goes around^(N) like a mere phantom;^(O)
    in vain they rush about,^(P) heaping up wealth^(Q)
    without knowing whose it will finally be.^(R)

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

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

¹² But where can wisdom be found?^(A)
    Where does understanding dwell?^(B)
13 No mortal comprehends its worth;^(C)
    it cannot be found in the land of the living.^(D)
14 The deep^(E) says, “It is not in me”;
    the sea^(F) says, “It is not with me.”
¹⁵ It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
    nor can its price be weighed out in silver.^(G)
16 It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,^(H)
    with precious onyx or lapis lazuli.^(I)
17 Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,^(J)
    nor can it be had for jewels of gold.^(K)
18 Coral^(L) and jasper^(M) are not worthy of mention;
    the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.^(N)
19 The topaz^(O) of Cush^(P) cannot compare with it;
    it cannot be bought with pure gold.^(Q)

²⁰ Where then does wisdom come from?
    Where does understanding dwell?^(R)
21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
    concealed even from the birds in the sky.^(S)
22 Destruction^[a](T) and Death^(U) say,
    “Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.”
²³ God understands the way to it
    and he alone^(V) knows where it dwells,^(W)
24 for he views the ends of the earth^(X)
    and sees everything under the heavens.^(Y)
25 When he established the force of the wind
    and measured out the waters,^(Z)
26 when he made a decree for the rain^(AA)
    and a path for the thunderstorm,^(AB)
27 then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
    he confirmed it and tested it.^(AC)
28 And he said to the human race,
    “The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
    and to shun evil^(AD) is understanding.”^(AE)

² “How I long for the months gone by,^(AG)
    for the days when God watched over me,^(AH)
3 when his lamp shone on my head
    and by his light I walked through darkness!^(AI)
4 Oh, for the days when I was in my prime,
    when God’s intimate friendship^(AJ) blessed my house,^(AK)
5 when the Almighty was still with me
    and my children^(AL) were around me,^(AM)
6 when my path was drenched with cream^(AN)
    and the rock^(AO) poured out for me streams of olive oil.^(AP)

⁷ “When I went to the gate^(AQ) of the city
    and took my seat in the public square,
⁸ the young men saw me and stepped aside^(AR)
    and the old men rose to their feet;^(AS)
9 the chief men refrained from speaking^(AT)
    and covered their mouths with their hands;^(AU)
10 the voices of the nobles were hushed,^(AV)
    and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.^(AW)