¹I said, “I will watch my ways, so that I don’t sin with my tongue.

I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me.”

²I was mute with silence.

I held my peace, even from good.

My sorrow was stirred.

³My heart was hot within me.

While I meditated, the fire burned.

I spoke with my tongue:

⁴“YHWH, show me my end,

what is the measure of my days.

Let me know how frail I am.

⁵Indeed, you have made my days mere hand widths.

My lifetime is as nothing before you.

Surely every human stands as a breath.” Selah.

⁶“Surely every person walks like a shadow.

Surely they busy themselves in vain.

They amass wealth without knowing who will get it.

⁷Now, Lord, what do I wait for?

My hope is in you.

⁸Deliver me from all my transgressions.

Don’t make me the reproach of the foolish.

⁹I was mute.

I didn’t open my mouth,

because you did it.

¹⁰Remove your scourge away from me.

I am overcome by the blow of your hand.

¹¹When you rebuke and correct a person for iniquity,

you consume their wealth like a moth.

Surely every human is but a breath.” Selah.

¹²“Hear my prayer, YHWH, and give ear to my cry.

Don’t be silent at my tears.

For I am a stranger with you,

a foreigner, as all my fathers were.

¹³Oh spare me, that I may recover strength,

before I go away and exist no more.”