The Bible in Basic English BBE
New International Version NIV
1 As for man, the son of woman, his days are short and full of trouble.
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“Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble.
2 He comes out like a flower, and is cut down: he goes in flight like a shade, and is never seen again.
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They spring up like flowers and wither away; like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.
3 Is it on such a one as this that your eyes are fixed, with the purpose of judging him?
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Do you fix your eye on them? Will you bring them before you for judgment?
4 If only a clean thing might come out of an unclean! But it is not possible.
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Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!
5 If his days are ordered, and you have knowledge of the number of his months, having given him a fixed limit past which he may not go;
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A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.
6 Let your eyes be turned away from him, and take your hand from him, so that he may have pleasure at the end of his day, like a servant working for payment.
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So look away from him and let him alone, till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.
7 For there is hope of a tree; if it is cut down, it will come to life again, and its branches will not come to an end.
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“At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail.
8 Though its root may be old in the earth, and its cut-off end may be dead in the dust;
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Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil,
9 Still, at the smell of water, it will make buds, and put out branches like a young plant.
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yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant.
10 But man comes to his death and is gone: he gives up his spirit, and where is he?
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But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more.
11 The waters go from a pool, and a river becomes waste and dry;
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As the water of a lake dries up or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,
12 So man goes down to his last resting-place and comes not again: till the heavens come to an end, they will not be awake or come out of their sleep.
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so he lies down and does not rise; till the heavens are no more, people will not awake or be roused from their sleep.
13 If only you would keep me safe in the underworld, putting me in a secret place till your wrath is past, giving me a fixed time when I might come to your memory again!
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“If only you would hide me in the grave and conceal me till your anger has passed! If only you would set me a time and then remember me!
14 If death takes a man, will he come to life again? All the days of my trouble I would be waiting, till the time came for me to be free.
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If someone dies, will they live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come.
15 At the sound of your voice I would give an answer, and you would have a desire for the work of your hands.
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You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made.
16 For now my steps are numbered by you, and my sin is not overlooked.
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Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin.
17 My wrongdoing is corded up in a bag, and my sin is shut up safe.
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My offenses will be sealed up in a bag; you will cover over my sin.
18 But truly a mountain falling comes to dust, and a rock is moved from its place;
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“But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and as a rock is moved from its place,
19 The stones are crushed small by the force of the waters; the dust of the earth is washed away by their overflowing: and so you put an end to the hope of man.
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as water wears away stones and torrents wash away the soil, so you destroy a person’s hope.
20 You overcome him for ever, and he is gone; his face is changed in death, and you send him away.
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You overpower them once for all, and they are gone; you change their countenance and send them away.
21 His sons come to honour, and he has no knowledge of it; they are made low, but he is not conscious of it.
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If their children are honored, they do not know it; if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.
22 Only his flesh still has pain, and his soul is sad.
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They feel but the pain of their own bodies and mourn only for themselves.”
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.