English Standard Version ESV
The Message Bible MSG
1 I said, "I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, so long as the wicked are in my presence."
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I'm determined to watch steps and tongue so they won't land me in trouble. I decided to hold my tongue as long as Wicked is in the room.
2 I was mute and silent; I held my peace to no avail, and my distress grew worse.
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"Mum's the word," I said, and kept quiet. But the longer I kept silence The worse it got -
3 My heart became hot within me. As I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue:
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my insides got hotter and hotter. My thoughts boiled over; I spilled my guts.
4 "O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!
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"Tell me, what's going on, God? How long do I have to live? Give me the bad news!
5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
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You've kept me on pretty short rations; my life is string too short to be saved.
6 Surely a man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!
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Oh! we're all puffs of air. Oh! we're all shadows in a campfire. Oh! we're just spit in the wind. We make our pile, and then we leave it.
7 "And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.
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"What am I doing in the meantime, Lord? Hoping, that's what I'm doing - hoping
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions. Do not make me the scorn of the fool!
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You'll save me from a rebel life, save me from the contempt of dunces.
9 I am mute; I do not open my mouth, for it is you who have done it.
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I'll say no more, I'll shut my mouth, since you, Lord, are behind all this.
10 Remove your stroke from me; I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
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But I can't take it much longer. When you put us through the fire
11 When you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, you consume like a moth what is dear to him; surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah
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to purge us from our sin, our dearest idols go up in smoke. Are we also nothing but smoke?
12 "Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears! For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers.
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"Ah, God, listen to my prayer, my cry - open your ears. Don't be callous; just look at these tears of mine. I'm a stranger here. I don't know my way - a migrant like my whole family.
13 Look away from me, that I may smile again, before I depart and am no more!"
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Give me a break, cut me some slack before it's too late and I'm out of here."
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.