1 “A person who is born of a woman is short-lived and is full of trouble.
2 He comes up like a flower; then he withers.
3 You observe this
4 “If only an unclean person could become clean!
5 If the number of his days
6 Look away from him, and he will cease to be.
7 There is hope for a tree when it is cut down.
8 If its roots grow old in the ground
9 merely a scent of water will make it sprout
10 But a human dies and is powerless.
11 ⌞As⌟ water drains out of a lake,
12 so each person lies down
13 I wish you would hide me in Sheol
14 “If a person dies, will he go on living?
15 You will call, and I will answer you.
16 Though now you count my steps,
17 My disobedience will be closed up in a bag,
18 As surely as a mountain falls
19 ⌞so⌟ water wears away stone,
20 You overpower him forever, and he passes away.
21 His sons are honored, and he doesn’t know it.
22 He feels only his body’s pain.