New International Version NIV
Revised Standard Version RSV
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 comes forth like a flower, and withers; he flees like a shadow, and continues 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 thy eyes upon such a one and bring him 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? There is 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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Since his days are determined, and 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, and desist, that he may enjoy, like 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 for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease.
8 Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil,
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Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stump 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 at the scent of water it will bud and put forth branches like a young plant.
10 But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more.
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But man dies, and is laid low; man breathes his last, 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 waters fail from a lake, and a river wastes away and dries 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 lies down and rises not again; till the heavens are no more he will not awake, or be roused out of his 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 conceal me 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 service I would 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 long for the work of thy hands.
16 Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin.
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For then thou wouldest number my steps, thou wouldest not keep 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 would be sealed up in a bag, and thou wouldest cover over my 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 falls and crumbles away, and the rock is removed from 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 away the stones; the torrents wash away the soil 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 passes; 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 does not know it; they are brought low, and he perceives it not.
22 They feel but the pain of their own bodies and mourn only for themselves.”
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He feels only the pain of his own body, and he mourns only for himself."
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.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.