New International Version NIV
Young's Literal Translation YLT
1 “Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble.
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Man, born of woman! 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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As a flower he hath gone forth, and is cut off, And he fleeth as a shadow and standeth not.
3 Do you fix your eye on them? Will you bring them before you for judgment?
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Also -- on this Thou hast opened Thine eyes, And dost bring me into judgment with Thee.
4 Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!
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Who giveth 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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If determined are his days, The number of his months [are] with Thee, His limit Thou hast made, And he passeth not over;
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 off him that he may cease, Till he enjoy as an 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 of a tree hope, if it be cut down, That again it doth change, That its tender branch doth not cease.
8 Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil,
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If its root becometh old in the earth, And its stem doth die in the dust,
9 yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant.
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From the fragrance of water it doth flourish, And hath made a crop as a plant.
10 But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more.
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And a man dieth, and becometh weak, And man expireth, and where [is] he?
11 As the water of a lake dries up or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,
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Waters have gone away from a sea, And a river becometh waste and dry.
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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And man hath lain down, and riseth not, Till the wearing out of the heavens they awake not, Nor are roused from 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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O that in Sheol Thou wouldst conceal me, Hide me till the turning of Thine anger, Set for me a limit, 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 dieth -- doth he revive? All days of my warfare I wait, till my change 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 dost call, and I -- I answer Thee; To the work of Thy hands Thou hast desire.
16 Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin.
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But now, my steps Thou numberest, Thou dost 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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Sealed up in a bag [is] my transgression, And Thou sewest up mine iniquity.
18 “But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and as a rock is moved from its place,
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And yet, a falling mountain wasteth away, And a 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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Stones have waters worn away, Their outpourings wash away the dust of earth, And the hope of man Thou hast destroyed.
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 [over] him for ever, and he goeth, He is changing his countenance, And Thou 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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Honoured are his sons, and he knoweth not; And they are little, and he attendeth not to them.
22 They feel but the pain of their own bodies and mourn only for themselves.”
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Only -- his flesh for him is pained, And his soul for him doth mourn.'
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.
Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain.