| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1“How frail is humanity! How short is life, how full of trouble! | 1“Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble. |
| 2We blossom like a flower and then wither. Like a passing shadow, we quickly disappear. | 2Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure. |
| 3Must you keep an eye on such a frail creature and demand an accounting from me? | 3Do You open Your eyes to one like this? Will You bring him into judgment before You? |
| 4Who can bring purity out of an impure person? No one! | 4Who can bring out clean from unclean? No one! |
| 5You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer. | 5Since his days are determined and the number of his months is with You, and since You have set limits that he cannot exceed, |
| 6So leave us alone and let us rest! We are like hired hands, so let us finish our work in peace. | 6look away from him and let him rest, so he can enjoy his day as a hired hand. |
| 7“Even a tree has more hope! If it is cut down, it will sprout again and grow new branches. | 7For there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender shoots will not fail. |
| 8Though its roots have grown old in the earth and its stump decays, | 8If its roots grow old in the ground and its stump dies in the soil, |
| 9at the scent of water it will bud and sprout again like a new seedling. | 9at the scent of water it will bud and put forth twigs like a sapling. |
| 10“But when people die, their strength is gone. They breathe their last, and then where are they? | 10But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last, and where is he? |
| 11As water evaporates from a lake and a river disappears in drought, | 11As water disappears from the sea and a river becomes parched and dry, |
| 12people are laid to rest and do not rise again. Until the heavens are no more, they will not wake up nor be roused from their sleep. | 12so a man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no more, he will not be awakened or roused from sleep. |
| 13“I wish you would hide me in the grave and forget me there until your anger has passed. But mark your calendar to think of me again! | 13If only You would hide me in Sheol and conceal me until Your anger has passed! If only You would appoint a time for me and then remember me! |
| 14Can the dead live again? If so, this would give me hope through all my years of struggle, and I would eagerly await the release of death. | 14When a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, until my renewal comes. |
| 15You would call and I would answer, and you would yearn for me, your handiwork. | 15You will call, and I will answer; You will desire the work of Your hands. |
| 16For then you would guard my steps, instead of watching for my sins. | 16For then You would count my steps, but would not keep track of my sin. |
| 17My sins would be sealed in a pouch, and you would cover my guilt. | 17My transgression would be sealed in a bag, and You would cover over my iniquity. |
| 18“But instead, as mountains fall and crumble and as rocks fall from a cliff, | 18But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and a rock is dislodged from its place, |
| 19as water wears away the stones and floods wash away the soil, so you destroy people’s hope. | 19as water wears away the stones and torrents wash away the soil, so You destroy a man’s hope. |
| 20You always overpower them, and they pass from the scene. You disfigure them in death and send them away. | 20You forever overpower him, and he passes on; You change his countenance and send him away. |
| 21They never know if their children grow up in honor or sink to insignificance. | 21If his sons receive honor, he does not know it; if they are brought low, he is unaware. |
| 22They suffer painfully; their life is full of trouble.” | 22He feels only the pain of his own body and mourns only for himself.” |
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