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(3) My heart grew hot within me;
whenever I thought of it, the fire burned.
Then, [at last,] I let my tongue speak:

(4) “Make me grasp, Adonai, what my end must be,
what it means that my days are numbered;
let me know what a transient creature I am.
(5) You have made my days like handbreadths;
for you, the length of my life is like nothing.”

Yes, everyone, no matter how firmly he stands,
is merely a puff of wind. (Selah)

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“Show me, Lord, my life’s end
    and the number of my days;(A)
    let me know how fleeting(B) my life is.(C)
You have made my days(D) a mere handbreadth;
    the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Everyone is but a breath,(E)
    even those who seem secure.[a]

“Surely everyone goes around(F) like a mere phantom;(G)
    in vain they rush about,(H) heaping up wealth(I)
    without knowing whose it will finally be.(J)

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 39:5 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 11.