“People are like grass;
    their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.

⁶ A voice said, “Shout!”
    I asked, “What should I shout?”

“Shout that people are like the grass.
    Their beauty fades as quickly
    as the flowers in a field.
⁷ The grass withers and the flowers fade
    beneath the breath of the Lord.
    And so it is with people.
⁸ The grass withers and the flowers fade,
    but the word of our God stands forever.”

¹⁵ Our days on earth are like grass;
    like wildflowers, we bloom and die.

² For like grass, they soon fade away.
    Like spring flowers, they soon wither.

⁷ Though the wicked sprout like weeds
    and evildoers flourish,
    they will be destroyed forever.

²⁶ That is why their people have so little power
    and are so frightened and confused.
They are as weak as grass,
    as easily trampled as tender green shoots.
They are like grass sprouting on a housetop,
    scorched before it can grow lush and tall.

⁶ May they be as useless as grass on a rooftop,
    turning yellow when only half grown,