| English Standard Version | New International Version |
| 1“Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble. | 1"Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble. |
| 2He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not. | 2They spring up like flowers and wither away; like fleeting shadows, they do not endure. |
| 3And do you open your eyes on such a one and bring me into judgment with you? | 3Do you fix your eye on them? Will you bring them before you for judgment? |
| 4Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one. | 4Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one! |
| 5Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass, | 5A person's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. |
| 6look away from him and leave him alone, that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day. | 6So look away from him and let him alone, till he has put in his time like a hired laborer. |
| 7“For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease. | 7"At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail. |
| 8Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stump die in the soil, | 8Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil, |
| 9yet at the scent of water it will bud and put out branches like a young plant. | 9yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant. |
| 10But a man dies and is laid low; man breathes his last, and where is he? | 10But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more. |
| 11As waters fail from a lake and a river wastes away and dries up, | 11As the water of a lake dries up or a riverbed becomes parched and dry, |
| 12so a man lies down and rises not again; till the heavens are no more he will not awake or be roused out of his sleep. | 12so he lies down and does not rise; till the heavens are no more, people will not awake or be roused from their sleep. |
| 13Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath be past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me! | 13"If only you would hide me in the grave and conceal me till your anger has passed! If only you would set me a time and then remember me! |
| 14If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come. | 14If someone dies, will they live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come. |
| 15You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands. | 15You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made. |
| 16For then you would number my steps; you would not keep watch over my sin; | 16Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin. |
| 17my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity. | 17My offenses will be sealed up in a bag; you will cover over my sin. |
| 18“But the mountain falls and crumbles away, and the rock is removed from its place; | 18"But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and as a rock is moved from its place, |
| 19the waters wear away the stones; the torrents wash away the soil of the earth; so you destroy the hope of man. | 19as water wears away stones and torrents wash away the soil, so you destroy a person's hope. |
| 20You prevail forever against him, and he passes; you change his countenance, and send him away. | 20You overpower them once for all, and they are gone; you change their countenance and send them away. |
| 21His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; they are brought low, and he perceives it not. | 21If their children are honored, they do not know it; if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it. |
| 22He feels only the pain of his own body, and he mourns only for himself.” | 22They feel but the pain of their own bodies and mourn only for themselves." |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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