⁶ “My^(E) days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
And are spent without hope.
⁷ Oh, remember that ^(F)my life is a breath!
My eye will never again see good.
^8 (G)The eye of him who sees me will see me no more;
While your eyes are upon me, I shall no longer be.
⁹ As the cloud disappears and vanishes away,
So ^(H)he who goes down to the grave does not come up.
¹⁰ He shall never return to his house,
^(I)Nor shall his place know him anymore.

¹¹ “Therefore I will ^(J)not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will ^(K)complain in the bitterness of my soul.
¹² Am I a sea, or a sea serpent,
That You set a guard over me?
^13 (L)When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
My couch will ease my complaint,’
¹⁴ Then You scare me with dreams
And terrify me with visions,
¹⁵ So that my soul chooses strangling
And death rather than ^[b]my body.
^16 (M)I loathe my life;
I would not live forever.
^(N)Let me alone,
For ^(O)my days are but ^[c]a breath.

¹⁷ “What^(P) is man, that You should exalt him,
That You should set Your heart on him,
¹⁸ That You should ^[d]visit him every morning,
And test him every moment?
¹⁹ How long?
Will You not look away from me,
And let me alone till I swallow my saliva?
²⁰ Have I sinned?
What have I done to You, ^(Q)O watcher of men?
Why ^(R)have You set me as Your target,
So that I am a burden ^[e]to myself?
²¹ Why then do You not pardon my transgression,
And take away my iniquity?
For now I will lie down in the dust,
And You will seek me diligently,
But I will no longer be.”

² “How long will you speak these things,
And the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?
^3 (A)Does God subvert judgment?
Or does the Almighty pervert justice?
⁴ If ^(B)your sons have sinned against Him,
He has cast them away ^[a]for their transgression.
^5 (C)If you would earnestly seek God
And make your supplication to the Almighty,
⁶ If you were pure and upright,
Surely now He would ^[b]awake for you,
And prosper your rightful dwelling place.
⁷ Though your beginning was small,
Yet your latter end would ^(D)increase abundantly.

⁸ “For^(E) inquire, please, of the former age,
And consider the things discovered by their fathers;
⁹ For ^(F)we were born yesterday, and know ^[c]nothing,
Because our days on earth are a shadow.
¹⁰ Will they not teach you and tell you,
And utter words from their heart?

¹¹ “Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh?
Can the reeds flourish without water?
^12 (G)While it is yet green and not cut down,
It withers before any other plant.
¹³ So are the paths of all who ^(H)forget God;
And the hope of the ^(I)hypocrite shall perish,
¹⁴ Whose confidence shall be cut off,
And whose trust is ^[d]a spider’s web.
^15 (J)He leans on his house, but it does not stand.
He holds it fast, but it does not endure.
¹⁶ He grows green in the sun,
And his branches spread out in his garden.
¹⁷ His roots wrap around the rock heap,
And look for a place in the stones.
^18 (K)If he is destroyed from his place,
Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have not seen you.’

¹⁹ “Behold, this is the joy of His way,
And ^(L)out of the earth others will grow.
²⁰ Behold, ^(M)God will not ^[e]cast away the blameless,
Nor will He uphold the evildoers.
²¹ He will yet fill your mouth with laughing,
And your lips with ^[f]rejoicing.
²² Those who hate you will be ^(N)clothed with shame,
And the dwelling place of the wicked ^[g]will come to nothing.”

⁵ For they have consulted together with one ^[c]consent;
They ^[d]form a confederacy against You:
^6 (E)The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites;
Moab and the Hagrites;
⁷ Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek;
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
⁸ Assyria also has joined with them;
They have helped the children of Lot. Selah

⁹ Deal with them as with ^(F)Midian,
As with ^(G)Sisera,
As with Jabin at the Brook Kishon,
¹⁰ Who perished at En Dor,
^(H)Who became as refuse on the earth.
¹¹ Make their nobles like ^(I)Oreb and like Zeeb,
Yes, all their princes like ^(J)Zebah and Zalmunna,
¹² Who said, “Let us take for ourselves
The pastures of God for a possession.”

^13 (K)O my God, make them like the whirling dust,
^(L)Like the chaff before the wind!
¹⁴ As the fire burns the woods,
And as the flame ^(M)sets the mountains on fire,
¹⁵ So pursue them with Your tempest,
And frighten them with Your storm.
¹⁶ Fill their faces with shame,
That they may seek Your name, O Lord.
¹⁷ Let them be ^[e]confounded and dismayed forever;
Yes, let them be put to shame and perish,
^18 (N)That they may know that You, whose ^(O)name alone is the Lord,
Are ^(P)the Most High over all the earth.

³ Even the sparrow has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for herself,
Where she may lay her young—
Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God.
⁴ Blessed are those who dwell in Your ^(D)house;
They will still be praising You. Selah

⁵ Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
⁶ As they pass through the Valley ^(E)of ^[c]Baca,
They make it a spring;
The rain also covers it with ^[d]pools.
⁷ They go ^(F)from strength to strength;
^[e]Each one ^(G)appears before God in Zion.

⁸ O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
^9 (H)O God, behold our shield,
And look upon the face of Your ^[f]anointed.

¹⁰ For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.
I would rather ^[g]be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
¹¹ For the Lord God is ^(I)a sun and ^(J)shield;
The Lord will give grace and glory;
^(K)No good thing will He withhold
From those who walk uprightly.

¹² O Lord of hosts,
^(L)Blessed is the man who trusts in You!