New International Version NIV
World English Bible WEB
1 “Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble.
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"Man, who 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 is cut down. He also flees like a shadow, and doesn't continue.
3 Do you fix your eye on them? Will you bring them before you for judgment?
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Do you open your eyes on such a one, And bring me into judgment with you?
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 you, And you have appointed his bounds that he can't 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, Until 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 for a tree, If it is cut down, that it will sprout again, That the tender branch of it 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 of it grows old in the earth, And the stock of it dies 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 dies, and is laid low. Yes, man gives up the spirit, 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 wastes 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 doesn't rise; Until the heavens are 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 you would hide me in Sheol, That you would keep me secret, until your wrath is past, That you would 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 dies, shall he live again? All the days of my warfare would I wait, Until 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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You would call, and I would answer you. You would have a desire to the work of your hands.
16 Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin.
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But now you number my steps. Don't you 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 disobedience is sealed up in a bag. You fasten up 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 falling comes to nothing; 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 torrents of it wash away the dust of the earth: So you destroy 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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You forever prevail against him, and he passes; You change his face, and send 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 doesn't know it; They are brought low, but he doesn't perceive it of them.
22 They feel but the pain of their own bodies and mourn only for themselves.”
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But his flesh on him has pain; His soul within him mourns."
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.
The World English Bible is in the public domain.