New International Version NIV
American Standard Version ASV
1 “Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble.
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Man, that is born of a woman, Is of few days, and full of trouble.
2 They spring up like flowers and wither away; like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.
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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 fix your eye on them? Will you bring them before you for judgment?
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And dost thou open thine eyes upon such a one, And bringest me into judgment with thee?
4 Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!
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Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
5 A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.
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Seeing his days are determined, The number of his months is with thee, And thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
6 So look away from him and let him alone, till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.
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Look away from him, that he may rest, Till he shall accomplish, as a hireling, his day.
7 “At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail.
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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 Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil,
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Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, And the stock thereof die in the ground;
9 yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant.
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Yet through the scent of water it will bud, And put forth boughs like a plant.
10 But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more.
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But man dieth, and is laid low: Yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?
11 As the water of a lake dries up or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,
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[As] the waters fail from the sea, And the river wasteth and drieth up;
12 so he lies down and does not rise; till the heavens are no more, people will not awake or be roused from their sleep.
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So man lieth down and riseth not: Till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, Nor be roused out of their sleep.
13 “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!
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Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol, That thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, That thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!
14 If someone dies, will they live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come.
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If a man die, shall he live [again]? All the days of my warfare would I wait, Till my release should come.
15 You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made.
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Thou wouldest call, and I would answer thee: Thou wouldest have a desire to the work of thy hands.
16 Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin.
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But now thou numberest my steps: Dost thou not watch over my sin?
17 My offenses will be sealed up in a bag; you will cover over my sin.
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My transgression is sealed up in a bag, And thou fastenest up mine iniquity.
18 “But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and as a rock is moved from its place,
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But the mountain falling cometh to nought; And the rock is removed out of its place;
19 as water wears away stones and torrents wash away the soil, so you destroy a person’s hope.
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The waters wear the stones; The overflowings thereof wash away the dust of the earth: So thou destroyest the hope of man.
20 You overpower them once for all, and they are gone; you change their countenance and send them away.
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Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth; Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.
21 If their children are honored, they do not know it; if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.
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His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; And they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.
22 They feel but the pain of their own bodies and mourn only for themselves.”
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But his flesh upon him hath pain, And his soul within him mourneth.
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.