Read the Bible

¹ "All of us born to women
    live only a few days and have lots of trouble.
² We grow up like flowers and then dry up and die.
    We are like a passing shadow that does not last.
³ Lord, do you need to watch me like this?
    Must you bring me before you to be judged?
⁴ No one can bring something clean from something dirty.
⁵ Our time is limited.
    You have given us only so many months to live
    and have set limits we cannot go beyond.
⁶ So look away from us and leave us alone
    until we put in our time like a laborer.

⁷ "If a tree is cut down,
    there is hope that it will grow again
    and will send out new branches.
⁸ Even if its roots grow old in the ground,
    and its stump dies in the dirt,
⁹ at the smell of water it will bud
    and put out new shoots like a plant.
¹⁰ But we die, and our bodies are laid in the ground;
    we take our last breath and are gone.
¹¹ Water disappears from a lake,
    and a river loses its water and dries up.
¹² In the same way, we lie down and do not rise again;
    we will not get up or be awakened
    until the heavens disappear.

¹³ "I wish you would hide me in the grave;
    hide me until your anger is gone.
I wish you would set a time
    and then remember me!
¹⁴ Will the dead live again?
    All my days are a struggle;
    I will wait until my change comes.
¹⁵ You will call, and I will answer you;
    you will desire the creature your hands have made.
¹⁶ Then you will count my steps,
    but you will not keep track of my sin.
¹⁷ My wrongs will be closed up in a bag,
    and you will cover up my sin.

¹⁸ "A mountain washes away and crumbles;
    and a rock can be moved from its place.
¹⁹ Water washes over stones and wears them down,
    and rushing waters wash away the dirt.
    In the same way, you destroy hope.
²⁰ You defeat people forever, and they are gone;
    you change their appearance and send them away.
²¹ Their children are honored, but they do not know it;
    their children are disgraced, but they do not see it.
²² They only feel the pain of their body
    and feel sorry for themselves."