New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 "A mortal, born of woman, few of days and full of trouble,
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As for man, the son of woman, his days are short and full of trouble.
2 comes up like a flower and withers, flees like a shadow and does not last.
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He comes out like a flower, and is cut down: he goes in flight like a shade, and is never seen again.
3 Do you fix your eyes on such a one? Do you bring me into judgment with you?
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Is it on such a one as this that your eyes are fixed, with the purpose of judging him?
4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one can.
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If only a clean thing might come out of an unclean! But it is not possible.
5 Since their days are determined, and the number of their months is known to you, and you have appointed the bounds that they cannot pass,
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If his days are ordered, and you have knowledge of the number of his months, having given him a fixed limit past which he may not go;
6 look away from them, and desist, that they may enjoy, like laborers, their days.
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Let your eyes be turned away from him, and take your hand from him, so that he may have pleasure at the end of his day, like a servant working for payment.
7 "For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease.
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For there is hope of a tree; if it is cut down, it will come to life again, and its branches will not come to an end.
8 Though its root grows old in the earth, and its stump dies in the ground,
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Though its root may be old in the earth, and its cut-off end may be dead in the dust;
9 yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth branches like a young plant.
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Still, at the smell of water, it will make buds, and put out branches like a young plant.
10 But mortals die, and are laid low; humans expire, and where are they?
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But man comes to his death and is gone: he gives up his spirit, and where is he?
11 As waters fail from a lake, and a river wastes away and dries up,
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The waters go from a pool, and a river becomes waste and dry;
12 so mortals lie down and do not rise again; until the heavens are no more, they will not awake or be roused out of their sleep.
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So man goes down to his last resting-place and comes not again: till the heavens come to an end, they will not be awake or come out of their sleep.
13 O that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
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If only you would keep me safe in the underworld, putting me in a secret place till your wrath is past, giving me a fixed time when I might come to your memory again!
14 If mortals die, will they live again? All the days of my service I would wait until my release should come.
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If death takes a man, will he come to life again? All the days of my trouble I would be waiting, till the time came for me to be free.
15 You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands.
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At the sound of your voice I would give an answer, and you would have a desire for the work of your hands.
16 For then you would not number my steps, you would not keep watch over my sin;
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For now my steps are numbered by you, and my sin is not overlooked.
17 my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity.
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My wrongdoing is corded up in a bag, and my sin is shut up safe.
18 "But the mountain falls and crumbles away, and the rock is removed from its place;
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But truly a mountain falling comes to dust, and a rock is moved from its place;
19 the waters wear away the stones; the torrents wash away the soil of the earth; so you destroy the hope of mortals.
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The stones are crushed small by the force of the waters; the dust of the earth is washed away by their overflowing: and so you put an end to the hope of man.
20 You prevail forever against them, and they pass away; you change their countenance, and send them away.
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You overcome him for ever, and he is gone; his face is changed in death, and you send him away.
21 Their children come to honor, and they do not know it; they are brought low, and it goes unnoticed.
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His sons come to honour, and he has no knowledge of it; they are made low, but he is not conscious of it.
22 They feel only the pain of their own bodies, and mourn only for themselves."
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Only his flesh still has pain, and his soul is sad.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, 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.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.