1 * Life is short and sorrowful

for every living soul.

2 We are flowers that fade

and shadows that vanish.

3 And so, I ask you, God,

why pick on me?

4 There's no way a human

can be completely pure.

5 Our time on earth is brief;

the number of our days

is already decided by you.

6 Why don't you leave us alone

and let us find some happiness

while we toil and labor?

7 When a tree is chopped down,

there is always the hope

that it will sprout again.

8 Its roots and stump may rot,

9 but at the touch of water,

it sprouts once again.

10 Humans are different—

we die, and that's the end.

11 We are like streams and lakes

after the water has gone;

12 we fall into the sleep of death,

never to rise again,

until the sky disappears.

13 Please hide me, God,

deep in the ground—

and when you are angry no more,

remember to rescue me.

14 Will we humans live again?

I would gladly suffer

and wait for my time.

15 My Creator, you would want me;

you would call out,

and I would answer.

16 You would take care of me,

but not count my sins—

17 you would put them in a bag,

tie it tight,

and toss them away.

18 But in the real world,

mountains tumble,

and rocks crumble;

19 streams wear away stones

and wash away soil.

And you destroy our hopes!

20 You change the way we look,

then send us away,

wiped out forever.

21 We never live to know

if our children are praised

or disgraced.

22 We feel no pain but our own,

and when we mourn,

it's only for ourselves.