Psalms 39

¹ I said, I will keep my ways from sinning with my tongue; I will place a muzzle over my mouth, As long as anyone wicked is in front of me. ² I have become mute in stillness; I hushed even from what is good, Yet my pain was troubled more. ³ My heart kindled warm within me; A fire consumed in my soliloquy; I spoke with my tongue: ⁴ Acquaint me, O Yahweh, with my end And the measure of my days - what it is. Do let me realize how quickly my leaving off can be. ⁵ Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my transient lifetime is as nothing in front of You. Yea, all of humanity, standing up, is altogether a transitory breath. ⁶ Yea, man walks about, merely an image; Yea, they clamor about in vain He piles up goods but does not know who will be gathering them in. ⁷ And now, what do I expect, O Yahweh? My waiting, it is for You! ⁸ Rescue me from all my transgressions; Do not constitute me the reproach of the decadent one. ⁹ I have become mute; I shall not open my mouth, For You Yourself have acted. ¹⁰ Withdraw Your touch from me; I am exhausted from the stirring up of Your hand. ¹¹ You have disciplined man with corrections for depravity, And what he has coveted, You are melting away like a moth. Yea, all of humanity is a transitory breath. ¹² Do hear my prayer, O Yahweh, And give ear to my imploring; Do not be deaf to my tears, For with You, I am a sojourner, An alien settler like all my fathers. ¹³ Take Your probing heed from me that I may smile, Ere I shall go away and be no more.