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

⁶ “Surely everyone goes around^(F) like a mere phantom;^(G)
    in vain they rush about,^(H) heaping up wealth^(I)
    without knowing whose it will finally be.^(J)

¹³ As a father has compassion^(A) on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed,^(B)
    he remembers that we are dust.^(C)
15 The life of mortals is like grass,^(D)
    they flourish like a flower^(E) of the field;
¹⁶ the wind blows^(F) over it and it is gone,
    and its place^(G) remembers it no more.

¹⁰ Our days may come to seventy years,^(A)
    or eighty,^(B) if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,^(C)
    for they quickly pass, and we fly away.^(D)

¹² Teach us to number our days,^(A)
    that we may gain a heart of wisdom.^(B)

¹³ Now all has been heard;
    here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God^(A) and keep his commandments,^(B)
    for this is the duty of all mankind.^(C)
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,^(D)
    including every hidden thing,^(E)
    whether it is good or evil.