The Message Bible MSG
King James Version KJV
1 "We're all adrift in the same boat: too few days, too many troubles.
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Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
2 We spring up like wildflowers in the desert and then wilt, transient as the shadow of a cloud.
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He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
3 Do you occupy your time with such fragile wisps? Why even bother hauling me into court?
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And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?
4 There's nothing much to us to start with; how do you expect us to amount to anything?
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Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
5 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.
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Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
6 So why not give us a break? Ease up! Even ditchdiggers get occasional days off.
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Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.
7 For a tree there is always hope. Chop it down and it still has a chance - its roots can put out fresh sprouts.
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For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.
8 Even if its roots are old and gnarled, its stump long dormant,
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Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;
9 At the first whiff of water it comes to life, buds and grows like a sapling.
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Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.
10 But men and women? They die and stay dead. They breathe their last, and that's it.
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But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?
11 Like lakes and rivers that have dried up, parched reminders of what once was,
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As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:
12 So mortals lie down and never get up, never wake up again - never.
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So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.
13 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.
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O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!
14 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!
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If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
15 Homesick with longing for the creature you made, you'll call - and I'll answer!
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Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.
16 You'll watch over every step I take, but you won't keep track of my missteps.
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For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?
17 My sins will be stuffed in a sack and thrown into the sea - sunk in deep ocean.
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My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity.
18 "Meanwhile, mountains wear down and boulders break up,
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And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place.
19 Stones wear smooth and soil erodes, as you relentlessly grind down our hope.
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The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man.
20 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.
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Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.
21 If our children do well for themselves, we never know it; if they do badly, we're spared the hurt.
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His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.
22 Body and soul, that's it for us - a lifetime of pain, a lifetime of sorrow."
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But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.
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.
The King James Version is in the public domain.