^1aTo the choirmaster – to Jeduthun.↑

A Psalm of David.

^1bI have resolved that I will keep my ways,

Not sinning with my tongue;

I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle

As long as the wicked one is still before me.

²I was mute – in silence.

I was quiet because of my good situation,

Then sorrow came upon me.

³My heart was hot within me,

A fire was burning in my contemplation;

I spoke with my tongue.

⁴O Lord, make my end known to me,

And what the measure of my days is,

So that I may know how transient I am.

⁵Look, you have appointed my days to be as handbreadths,

And my lifespan is as nothing before you.

Surely all mankind is appointed to nothing but vanity.

Selah.

⁶Surely man walks around in a shadow;

Surely men are in a commotion in vanity.

He heaps things up

But does not know who will collect them.

⁷And now, O Lord^*, what have I hoped for?

My hope is pinned on you.

⁸Deliver me from all my transgressions;

Do not make me a fool's reproach.

⁹I was silent;

I did not open my mouth,

For you acted.

¹⁰Do stop dealing me blows,

For I am consumed by the castigation of your hand.

¹¹You chasten a man on account of iniquity with punishments,

And you dissolve away his elegance like a moth.

Surely all mankind is vanity.

Selah.

¹²Hear my prayer, O Lord,

And listen to my crying out.

Do not be indifferent to my tears,

– A temporary resident, like all my fathers.

¹³Allow me respite,

And let me be cheerful,

Before I go

And am no more.

Reference(s) in Chapter 39: v.12 ↔ Hebrews 11:13.