1 Anyone born of woman

is short of days and full of trouble.  *

2 He blossoms like a flower, then withers;  *

he flees like a shadow and does not last.

3 Do you really take notice of one like this?

Will you bring me into judgment against you?  *,*

4 Who can produce something pure from what is impure?

No one!

5 Since a person’s days are determined

and the number of his months depends on you,

and since you have set  *  limits he cannot pass,  *

6 look away from him and let him rest

so that he can enjoy his day like a hired worker.  *

7 There is hope for a tree:

If it is cut down, it will sprout again,

and its shoots will not die.

8 If its roots grow old in the ground

and its stump starts to die in the soil,

9 the scent of water makes it thrive

and produce twigs like a sapling.  *

10 But a person dies and fades away;

he breathes his last — where is he?

11 As water disappears from a lake

and a river becomes parched and dry,

12 so people lie down never to rise again.

They will not wake up until the heavens are no more;  *

they will not stir from their sleep.

13 If only you would hide me in Sheol  *

and conceal me until your anger  *  passes.

If only you would appoint a time for me

and then remember me.

14 When a person dies, will he come back to life?

If so, I would wait  * all the days of my struggle  *

until my relief comes.

15 You would call, and I would answer you.

You would long for the work of your hands.  *

16 For then you would count my steps  *

but would not take note  *  of my sin.

17 My rebellion would be sealed up in a bag,

and you would cover over my iniquity.

18 But as a mountain collapses and crumbles

and a rock is dislodged from its place,

19 as water wears away stones

and torrents wash away the soil from the land,

so you destroy a man’s hope.  *

20 You completely overpower him, and he passes on;

you change his appearance and send him away.

21 If his sons receive honor, he does not know it;

if they become insignificant, he is unaware of it.  *

22 He feels only the pain of his own body

and mourns only for himself.