| 1 | Man, born of woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries. |
| 2 | He comes forth like a flower, and is crushed, and he flees, as if a shadow, and never remains in the same state. |
| 3 | And do you consider it fitting to look down with your eyes on someone in this way and to lead him into judgment with you? |
| 4 | Who can make him clean who is conceived of unclean seed? Are you not the only one who can? |
| 5 | The days of man are short, and the number of his months is with you; you have determined his limits, which cannot be surpassed. |
| 6 | Withdraw a little from him, so that he may rest, until his awaited day arrives, like that of the hired hand. |
| 7 | A tree has hope: if it has been cut, it turns green again, and its branches spring forth. |
| 8 | If its roots grow old in the earth, and its trunk passes into dust, |
| 9 | at the scent of water, it will sprout and bring forth leaves, as when it had first been planted. |
| 10 | Truly, when a man dies, and has been left unprotected, and has decayed, I ask you where is he? |
| 11 | It is as if the waters had receded from the sea and an emptied river had dried up; |
| 12 | just so, when a man is fallen asleep, he will not rise again, until the heavens are worn away; he will not awaken, nor rise from his sleep. |
| 13 | Who will grant this to me, that you will protect me in the underworld, and hide me until your fury passes by, and establish a time for me, in which you will remember me? |
| 14 | Do you suppose that a dead man will live again? On each of the days in which I now battle, I wait until my transformation occurs. |
| 15 | You will call me and I will answer you; to the work of your hands, you will extend your right hand. |
| 16 | Indeed, you have numbered my steps, but you have been lenient with my sins. |
| 17 | You have sealed up my offenses, as if in a purse, but you have cured my iniquity. |
| 18 | A falling mountain flows away, and a stone is transferred from its place. |
| 19 | Waters wear away stones, and with a flood the land is reduced little by little; and similarly, you will destroy man. |
| 20 | You have strengthened him for a little while, so that he may cross over into eternity. You will change his face and send him forth. |
| 21 | Whether his sons have been noble or ignoble, he will not understand. |
| 22 | And in this way his body, while he yet lives, will have grief, and his soul will mourn over himself. |
