¹⁰ Once I said,
    “In the noontime of my life
    I must depart.
I will be consigned to the gates of Sheol
    for the rest of my years.”
¹¹ I said, “I will no longer see the Lord
    in the land of the living.
I will no longer see any of my fellow men
    as I did when I dwelled in the world.
¹² “My dwelling has been torn down and thrown away
    like a shepherd’s tent;
like a weaver I have rolled up my life
    and the last thread has been severed.
Day and night I am subject to torment;
¹³     I cry out for help until the dawn.
All my bones are crushed, as if by a lion;
    day and night I suffer in torment.
¹⁴ “Like a swallow I twitter;
    I moan like a dove.
My eyes have grown dim looking up to heaven;
    O Lord, come to my aid in my suffering.
¹⁵ Yet how can I complain? What should I say?
    He himself has done this.
I will wander aimlessly for the rest of my years
    because of the bitterness of my soul.
¹⁶ “However, you, O Lord, are always present to protect me,
    and you grant life to my spirit;
you will restore me to health
    and enable me to live.
¹⁷ Clearly it was for my benefit
    that I suffered such anguish,
but you have preserved my life
    from the pit of destruction,
for you have cast all my sins
    behind your back.
¹⁸ For Sheol cannot give you thanks,
    nor can death praise you.
Those who go down into the pit
    cannot hope for your kindness.
¹⁹ It is the living, only the living, who can thank you
    as I am doing today,
just as fathers make known to their sons
    your faithfulness, O God.
²⁰ “The Lord is my savior,
    and we will sing to stringed instruments
all the days of our lives
    in the house of the Lord.”