³ At your command we die
    and turn back to dust,
^4 (A) but a thousand years
    mean nothing to you!
They are merely a day gone by
    or a few hours in the night.

⁵ You bring our lives to an end
    just like a dream.
We are merely tender grass
⁶     that sprouts and grows
in the morning,
    but dries up by evening.
⁷ Your furious anger frightens
    and destroys us,
⁸ and you know all our sins,
    even those we do in secret.

⁹ Your anger is a burden
each day we live,
    then life ends like a sigh.
^10 (A) We can expect seventy years,
or maybe eighty,
    if we are healthy,
but even our best years
    bring trouble and sorrow.
Suddenly our time is up,
    and we disappear.
¹¹ No one knows the full power
    of your furious anger,
but it is as great as the fear
    that we owe to you.