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14 How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.

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14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.(A)

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24 As the Scriptures say,

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

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24 For,

“All people are like grass,
    and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,

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You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.
    My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;
    at best, each of us is but a breath.” Interlude

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You have made my days(A) a mere handbreadth;
    the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Everyone is but a breath,(B)
    even those who seem secure.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 39:5 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 11.

17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

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17 The world and its desires pass away,(A) but whoever does the will of God(B) lives forever.

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For my days disappear like smoke,
    and my bones burn like red-hot coals.

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For my days vanish like smoke;(A)
    my bones(B) burn like glowing embers.

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Job Cries Out to God

“My days fly faster than a weaver’s shuttle.
    They end without hope.
O God, remember that my life is but a breath,
    and I will never again feel happiness.

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“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,(A)
    and they come to an end without hope.(B)
Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath;(C)
    my eyes will never see happiness again.(D)

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14 “How frail is humanity!
    How short is life, how full of trouble!
We blossom like a flower and then wither.
    Like a passing shadow, we quickly disappear.

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14 “Mortals, born of woman,(A)
    are of few days(B) and full of trouble.(C)
They spring up like flowers(D) and wither away;(E)
    like fleeting shadows,(F) they do not endure.(G)

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25 “My life passes more swiftly than a runner.
    It flees away without a glimpse of happiness.
26 It disappears like a swift papyrus boat,
    like an eagle swooping down on its prey.

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25 “My days are swifter than a runner;(A)
    they fly away without a glimpse of joy.(B)
26 They skim past(C) like boats of papyrus,(D)
    like eagles swooping down on their prey.(E)

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10 And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field.

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10 But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower.(A)

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47 Remember how short my life is,
    how empty and futile this human existence!

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47 Remember how fleeting is my life.(A)
    For what futility you have created all humanity!

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The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.

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The end of all things is near.(A) Therefore be alert and of sober mind(B) so that you may pray.

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You sweep people away like dreams that disappear.
    They are like grass that springs up in the morning.
In the morning it blooms and flourishes,
    but by evening it is dry and withered.
We wither beneath your anger;
    we are overwhelmed by your fury.

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Yet you sweep people away(A) in the sleep of death—
    they are like the new grass of the morning:
In the morning it springs up new,
    but by evening it is dry and withered.(B)

We are consumed by your anger
    and terrified by your indignation.

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12 My life has been blown away
    like a shepherd’s tent in a storm.
It has been cut short,
    as when a weaver cuts cloth from a loom.
    Suddenly, my life was over.

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12 Like a shepherd’s tent(A) my house
    has been pulled down(B) and taken from me.
Like a weaver I have rolled(C) up my life,
    and he has cut me off from the loom;(D)
    day and night(E) you made an end of me.

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