New Revised Standard NRS
The Message Bible MSG
1 I said, "I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue; I will keep a muzzle on my mouth as 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 silent and still; I held my peace to no avail; 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. While 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 "Lord, let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.
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"Tell me, what's going on, God? How long do I have to live? Give me the bad news!
5 You have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight. Surely everyone 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 everyone goes about like a shadow. Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; they heap up, and do 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, what do I wait for? 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 silent; 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 worn down by the blows of your hand.
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But I can't take it much longer. When you put us through the fire
11 "You chastise mortals in punishment for sin, consuming like a moth what is dear to them; surely everyone 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; do not hold your peace at my tears. For I am your passing guest, an alien, like all my forebears.
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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 Turn your gaze 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."
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.
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.