39 I said, “I will guard my ways
that I may not sin^[c] with my tongue.
I will keep a muzzle over my mouth
as long as the wicked are before me.”
² I was mute with silence. I was silent even from saying good things,
and my pain was stirred up.
³ My heart grew hot inside me;
in my sighing a fire burned.
Then I spoke with my tongue,
⁴ “Let me know, O Yahweh, my end,
and what is the measure of my days.
Let me know how transient I am.”
⁵ Look, you have made my days mere handbreadths,
and my lifespan as nothing next to you.
Surely every person standing firm is complete vanity. Selah
⁶ Surely a man walks about as a mere shadow;^[d]
surely in vain they bustle about.
He heaps up possessions but does not know who will gather them in.
⁷ And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is for you.
⁸ From all my transgressions deliver me;
do not make me the taunt of the fool.
⁹ I am mute. I do not open my mouth,
for you, yourself, have done it.
¹⁰ Remove from me your affliction.
By the opposition of your hand I perish.
¹¹ When with rebukes you chastise a man for sin,
you^[e] consume^[f] like a moth his delightful things.
Surely everyone is a mere vapor.^[g] Selah
¹² Hear my prayer, O Yahweh, and listen to my cry for help;
do not be deaf to my tears.
For I am an alien^[h] with you,
a sojourner like all my ancestors.^[i]
13 Look away from me that I may be cheerful,
before I depart and I am no more.