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¹ Man, that is born of a woman,
Is of few days, and full of trouble.
² He cometh forth like a flower, and ^[a]is cut down:
He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
³ And dost thou open thine eyes upon such a one,
And bringest me into judgment with thee?
^4 [b]Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
⁵ Seeing his days are determined,
The number of his months is with thee,
And thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
⁶ Look away from him, that he may ^[c]rest,
Till he shall ^[d]accomplish, as a hireling, his day.

⁷ For there is hope of a tree,
If it be cut down, that it will sprout again,
And that the tender branch thereof will not cease.
⁸ Though the root thereof wax old in the earth,
And the stock thereof die in the ground;
⁹ Yet through the scent of water it will bud,
And put forth boughs like a plant.
¹⁰ But man dieth, and is laid low:
Yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?
¹¹ As the waters ^[e]fail from the sea,
And the river wasteth and drieth up;
¹² So man lieth down and riseth not:
Till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake,
Nor be roused out of their sleep.

¹³ Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol,
That thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past,
That thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!
¹⁴ If a man die, shall he live again?
All the days of my warfare ^[f]would I wait,
Till my ^[g]release should come.
¹⁵ Thou ^[h]wouldest call, and I would answer thee:
Thou wouldest have a desire to the work of thy hands.
¹⁶ But now thou numberest my steps:
Dost thou not watch over my sin?
¹⁷ My transgression is sealed up in a bag,
And thou fastenest up mine iniquity.

¹⁸ But the mountain falling ^[i]cometh to nought;
And the rock is removed out of its place;
¹⁹ The waters wear the stones;
The overflowings thereof wash away the dust of the earth:
So thou destroyest the hope of man.
²⁰ Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth;
Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.
²¹ His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not;
And they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.
^22 [j]But his flesh upon him hath pain,
And his soul within him mourneth.