The Vanity of Life
I said, "I will watch my ways,
lest I sin with my tongue;
I will set a curb on my mouth."
Dumb and silent before the wicked,
I refrained from any speech.
But my sorrow increased;
my heart smoldered within me.
In my thoughts a fire blazed up,
and I broke into speech:
LORD, let me know my end, the number of my days,
that I may learn how frail I am.
You have given my days a very short span;
my life is as nothing before you.
All mortals are but a breath.
Selah
Mere phantoms, we go our way;
mere vapor, our restless pursuits;
we heap up stores without knowing for whom.
And now, Lord, what future do I have?
You are my only hope.
From all my sins deliver me;
let me not be the taunt of fools.
I was silent and did not open my mouth
because you were the one who did this.
Take your plague away from me;
I am ravaged by the touch of your hand.
You rebuke our guilt and chasten us;
you dissolve all we prize like a cobweb.
All mortals are but a breath.
Selah
Listen to my prayer, LORD, hear my cry;
do not be deaf to my weeping!
I sojourn with you like a passing stranger,
a guest, like all my ancestors.
Turn your gaze from me, that I may find peace
before I depart to be no more.
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