² We blossom like a flower and then wither.
    Like a passing shadow, we quickly disappear.

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.”

⁹ For we were born but yesterday and know nothing.
    Our days on earth are as fleeting as a shadow.

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

¹⁵ Our days on earth are like grass;
    like wildflowers, we bloom and die.
¹⁶ The wind blows, and we are gone—
    as though we had never been here.

⁴ For they are like a breath of air;
    their days are like a passing shadow.

¹¹ My life passes as swiftly as the evening shadows.
    I am withering away like grass.