The Latin Vulgate VUL
English Standard Version ESV
1 homo natus de muliere brevi vivens tempore repletus multis miseriis
1
“Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble.
2 quasi flos egreditur et conteritur et fugit velut umbra et numquam in eodem statu permanet
2
He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not.
3 et dignum ducis super huiuscemodi aperire oculos tuos et adducere eum tecum in iudicium
3
And do you open your eyes on such a one and bring me into judgment with you?
4 quis potest facere mundum de inmundo conceptum semine nonne tu qui solus es
4
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one.
5 breves dies hominis sunt numerus mensuum eius apud te est constituisti terminos eius qui praeterire non poterunt
5
Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,
6 recede paululum ab eo ut quiescat donec optata veniat sicut mercennarii dies eius
6
look away from him and leave him alone, that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day.
7 lignum habet spem si praecisum fuerit rursum virescit et rami eius pullulant
7
“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 si senuerit in terra radix eius et in pulvere emortuus fuerit truncus illius
8
Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stump die in the soil,
9 ad odorem aquae germinabit et faciet comam quasi cum primum plantatum est
9
yet at the scent of water it will bud and put out branches like a young plant.
10 homo vero cum mortuus fuerit et nudatus atque consumptus ubi quaeso est
10
But a man dies and is laid low; man breathes his last, and where is he?
11 quomodo si recedant aquae de mari et fluvius vacuefactus arescat
11
As waters fail from a lake and a river wastes away and dries up,
12 sic homo cum dormierit non resurget donec adteratur caelum non evigilabit nec consurget de somno suo
12
so a 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 quis mihi hoc tribuat ut in inferno protegas me ut abscondas me donec pertranseat furor tuus et constituas mihi tempus in quo recorderis mei
13
Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath be past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
14 putasne mortuus homo rursum vivet cunctis diebus quibus nunc milito expecto donec veniat inmutatio mea
14
If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come.
15 vocabis et ego respondebo tibi operi manuum tuarum porriges dexteram
15
You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands.
16 tu quidem gressus meos dinumerasti sed parces peccatis meis
16
For then you would number my steps; you would not keep watch over my sin;
17 signasti quasi in sacculo delicta mea sed curasti iniquitatem meam
17
my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity.
18 mons cadens defluet et saxum transfertur de loco suo
18
“But the mountain falls and crumbles away, and the rock is removed from its place;
19 lapides excavant aquae et adluvione paulatim terra consumitur et homines ergo similiter perdes
19
the waters wear away the stones; the torrents wash away the soil of the earth; so you destroy the hope of man.
20 roborasti eum paululum ut in perpetuum pertransiret inmutabis faciem eius et emittes eum
20
You prevail forever against him, and he passes; you change his countenance, and send him away.
21 sive nobiles fuerint filii eius sive ignobiles non intelleget
21
His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; they are brought low, and he perceives it not.
22 attamen caro eius dum vivet dolebit et anima illius super semet ipso lugebit
22
He feels only the pain of his own body, and he mourns only for himself. ”
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025