Hebrew Names Version HNV
The Message Bible MSG
1 "Man, who is born of a woman, Is of few days, and full of trouble.
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"We're all adrift in the same boat: too few days, too many troubles.
2 He comes forth like a flower, and is cut down. He also flees like a shadow, and doesn't continue.
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We spring up like wildflowers in the desert and then wilt, transient as the shadow of a cloud.
3 Do you open your eyes on such a one, And bring me into judgment with you?
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Do you occupy your time with such fragile wisps? Why even bother hauling me into court?
4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.
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There's nothing much to us to start with; how do you expect us to amount to anything?
5 Seeing his days are determined, The number of his months is with you, And you have appointed his bounds that he can't pass;
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Mortals have a limited life span. You've already decided how long we'll live - you set the boundary and no one can cross it.
6 Look away from him, that he may rest, Until he shall accomplish, as a hireling, his day.
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So why not give us a break? Ease up! Even ditchdiggers get occasional days off.
7 "For there is hope for a tree, If it is cut down, that it will sprout again, That the tender branch of it will not cease.
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For a tree there is always hope. Chop it down and it still has a chance - its roots can put out fresh sprouts.
8 Though the root of it grows old in the eretz, And the stock of it dies in the ground;
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Even if its roots are old and gnarled, its stump long dormant,
9 Yet through the scent of water it will bud, And put forth boughs like a plant.
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At the first whiff of water it comes to life, buds and grows like a sapling.
10 But man dies, and is laid low. Yes, man gives up the spirit, and where is he?
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But men and women? They die and stay dead. They breathe their last, and that's it.
11 As the waters fail from the sea, And the river wastes and dries up,
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Like lakes and rivers that have dried up, parched reminders of what once was,
12 So man lies down and doesn't rise; Until the heavens are no more, they shall not awake, Nor be roused out of their sleep.
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So mortals lie down and never get up, never wake up again - never.
13 "Oh that you would hide me in She'ol, That you would keep me secret, until your wrath is past, That you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
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Why don't you just bury me alive, get me out of the way until your anger cools? But don't leave me there! Set a date when you'll see me again.
14 If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my warfare would I wait, Until my release should come.
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If we humans die, will we live again? That's my question. All through these difficult days I keep hoping, waiting for the final change - for resurrection!
15 You would call, and I would answer you. You would have a desire to the work of your hands.
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Homesick with longing for the creature you made, you'll call - and I'll answer!
16 But now you number my steps. Don't you watch over my sin?
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You'll watch over every step I take, but you won't keep track of my missteps.
17 My disobedience is sealed up in a bag. You fasten up my iniquity.
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My sins will be stuffed in a sack and thrown into the sea - sunk in deep ocean.
18 "But the mountain falling comes to nothing; The rock is removed out of its place;
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"Meanwhile, mountains wear down and boulders break up,
19 The waters wear the stones; The torrents of it wash away the dust of the eretz: So you destroy the hope of man.
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Stones wear smooth and soil erodes, as you relentlessly grind down our hope.
20 You forever prevail against him, and he passes; You change his face, and send him away.
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You're too much for us. As always, you get the last word. We don't like it and our faces show it, but you send us off anyway.
21 His sons come to honor, and he doesn't know it; They are brought low, but he doesn't perceive it of them.
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If our children do well for themselves, we never know it; if they do badly, we're spared the hurt.
22 But his flesh on him has pain; His soul within him mourns."
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Body and soul, that's it for us - a lifetime of pain, a lifetime of sorrow."
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.