¹³ For now I would be lying down^(A) in peace;
    I would be asleep and at rest^(B)
14 with kings and rulers of the earth,^(C)
    who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,^(D)
15 with princes^(E) who had gold,
    who filled their houses with silver.^(F)
16 Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,^(G)
    like an infant who never saw the light of day?^(H)
17 There the wicked cease from turmoil,^(I)
    and there the weary are at rest.^(J)
18 Captives^(K) also enjoy their ease;
    they no longer hear the slave driver’s^(L) shout.^(M)
19 The small and the great are there,^(N)
    and the slaves are freed from their owners.

⁸ The eye that now sees me will see me no longer;
    you will look for me, but I will be no more.^(A)
9 As a cloud vanishes^(B) and is gone,
    so one who goes down to the grave^(C) does not return.^(D)
10 He will never come to his house again;
    his place^(E) will know him no more.^(F)

²¹ Why do you not pardon my offenses
    and forgive my sins?^(A)
For I will soon lie down in the dust;^(B)
    you will search for me, but I will be no more.”^(C)

²¹ before I go to the place of no return,^(A)
    to the land of gloom and utter darkness,^(B)
22 to the land of deepest night,
    of utter darkness^(C) and disorder,
    where even the light is like darkness.”^(D)

¹⁰ But a man dies and is laid low;^(A)
    he breathes his last and is no more.^(B)
11 As the water of a lake dries up
    or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,^(C)
12 so he lies down and does not rise;^(D)
    till the heavens are no more,^(E) people will not awake
    or be roused from their sleep.^(F)

¹³ “If only you would hide me in the grave^(G)
    and conceal me till your anger has passed!^(H)
If only you would set me a time
    and then remember^(I) me!^(J)
14 If someone dies, will they live again?
    All the days of my hard service^(K)
    I will wait for my renewal^[a](L) to come.
¹⁵ You will call and I will answer you;^(M)
    you will long for the creature your hands have made.^(N)

²⁰ You overpower them once for all, and they are gone;^(A)
    you change their countenance and send them away.^(B)
21 If their children are honored, they do not know it;
    if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.^(C)
22 They feel but the pain of their own bodies^(D)
    and mourn only for themselves.^(E)”

²² “Only a few years will pass
    before I take the path of no return.^(A)

¹³ If the only home I hope for is the grave,^(A)
    if I spread out my bed^(B) in the realm of darkness,^(C)
14 if I say to corruption,^(D) ‘You are my father,’
    and to the worm,^(E) ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister,’
¹⁵ where then is my hope—^(F)
    who can see any hope for me?^(G)
16 Will it go down to the gates of death?^(H)
    Will we descend together into the dust?”^(I)

²⁵ I know that my redeemer^[a](A) lives,^(B)
    and that in the end he will stand on the earth.^[b]
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
    yet^[c] in^[d] my flesh I will see God;^(C)
27 I myself will see him
    with my own eyes^(D)—I, and not another.
    How my heart yearns^(E) within me!