| New International Version | NET Bible |
| 1"Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble. | 1"Man, born of woman, lives but a few days, and they are full of trouble. |
| 2They spring up like flowers and wither away; like fleeting shadows, they do not endure. | 2He grows up like a flower and then withers away; he flees like a shadow, and does not remain. |
| 3Do you fix your eye on them? Will you bring them before you for judgment? | 3Do you fix your eye on such a one? And do you bring me before you for judgment? |
| 4Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one! | 4Who can make a clean thing come from an unclean? No one! |
| 5A person's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. | 5Since man's days are determined, the number of his months is under your control; you have set his limit and he cannot pass it. |
| 6So look away from him and let him alone, till he has put in his time like a hired laborer. | 6Look away from him and let him desist, until he fulfills his time like a hired man. |
| 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. | 7"But there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail. |
| 8Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil, | 8Although its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump begins to die in the soil, |
| 9yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant. | 9at the scent of water it will flourish and put forth shoots like a new plant. |
| 10But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more. | 10But man dies and is powerless; he expires--and where is he? |
| 11As the water of a lake dries up or a riverbed becomes parched and dry, | 11As water disappears from the sea, or a river drains away and dries up, |
| 12so he lies down and does not rise; till the heavens are no more, people will not awake or be roused from their sleep. | 12so man lies down and does not rise; until the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor arise from their sleep. |
| 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! | 13"O that you would hide me in Sheol, and conceal me till your anger has passed! O that you would set me a time and then remember me! |
| 14If someone dies, will they live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come. | 14If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait until my release comes. |
| 15You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made. | 15You will call and I--I will answer you; you will long for the creature you have made. |
| 16Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin. | 16"Surely now you count my steps; then you would not mark my sin. |
| 17My offenses will be sealed up in a bag; you will cover over my sin. | 17My offenses would be sealed up in a bag; you would cover over my sin. |
| 18"But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and as a rock is moved from its place, | 18But as a mountain falls away and crumbles, and as a rock will be removed from its place, |
| 19as water wears away stones and torrents wash away the soil, so you destroy a person's hope. | 19as water wears away stones, and torrents wash away the soil, so you destroy man's hope. |
| 20You overpower them once for all, and they are gone; you change their countenance and send them away. | 20You overpower him once for all, and he departs; you change his appearance and send him away. |
| 21If their children are honored, they do not know it; if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it. | 21If his sons are honored, he does not know it; if they are brought low, he does not see it. |
| 22They feel but the pain of their own bodies and mourn only for themselves." | 22Only his flesh has pain for himself, and he mourns for himself." |
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