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

14 “How frail is humanity!
    How short is life, how full of trouble!

⁹ Remember that you made me from dust—
    will you turn me back to dust so soon?

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.

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

⁵ 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

⁶ We are merely moving shadows,
    and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.
We heap up wealth,
    not knowing who will spend it.