| 1 | As for man, the son of woman, his days are short and full of trouble. |
| 2 | He comes out like a flower, and is cut down: he goes in flight like a shade, and is never seen again. |
| 3 | Is it on such a one as this that your eyes are fixed, with the purpose of judging him? |
| 4 | If only a clean thing might come out of an unclean! But it is not possible. |
| 5 | If his days are ordered, and you have knowledge of the number of his months, having given him a fixed limit past which he may not go; |
| 6 | Let your eyes be turned away from him, and take your hand from him, so that he may have pleasure at the end of his day, like a servant working for payment. |
| 7 | For there is hope of a tree; if it is cut down, it will come to life again, and its branches will not come to an end. |
| 8 | Though its root may be old in the earth, and its cut-off end may be dead in the dust; |
| 9 | Still, at the smell of water, it will make buds, and put out branches like a young plant. |
| 10 | But man comes to his death and is gone: he gives up his spirit, and where is he? |
| 11 | The waters go from a pool, and a river becomes waste and dry; |
| 12 | So man goes down to his last resting-place and comes not again: till the heavens come to an end, they will not be awake or come out of their sleep. |
| 13 | If only you would keep me safe in the underworld, putting me in a secret place till your wrath is past, giving me a fixed time when I might come to your memory again! |
| 14 | If death takes a man, will he come to life again? All the days of my trouble I would be waiting, till the time came for me to be free. |
| 15 | At the sound of your voice I would give an answer, and you would have a desire for the work of your hands. |
| 16 | For now my steps are numbered by you, and my sin is not overlooked. |
| 17 | My wrongdoing is corded up in a bag, and my sin is shut up safe. |
| 18 | But truly a mountain falling comes to dust, and a rock is moved from its place; |
| 19 | The stones are crushed small by the force of the waters; the dust of the earth is washed away by their overflowing: and so you put an end to the hope of man. |
| 20 | You overcome him for ever, and he is gone; his face is changed in death, and you send him away. |
| 21 | His sons come to honour, and he has no knowledge of it; they are made low, but he is not conscious of it. |
| 22 | Only his flesh still has pain, and his soul is sad. |