1I decided, “I will watch what I say
so that I do not sin with my tongue.
I will muzzle my mouth
while in the presence of an evil man.”

2I kept silent; I kept back my words even from saying anything good,
and my pain grew worse.

3My heart became hot;
when I thought about these things, it burned like a fire.
Then finally I spoke.

4“Yahweh, make me know when will be the end of my life
and the extent of my days.
Show me how transient I am.

5See, you have made my days only the width of my hand,
and my lifetime is like nothing before you.
Surely every man is a single breath. Selah

6Surely every man walks about like a shadow.
Surely everyone hurries about
to accumulate riches although they do not know who will receive them.

7Now, Lord, for what am I waiting?
You are my only hope.

8Rescue me from my sins;
do not make me the reproach of fools.

9I am silent and cannot open my mouth,
because it is you who has done it.

10Stop wounding me;
I am overwhelmed by the blow of your hand.

11When you discipline people for sin,
you consume the things they desire like a moth;
surely all people are nothing but vapor. Selah

12Hear my prayer, Yahweh, and listen to me;
listen to my weeping!
Do not be deaf to me,
for I am like a foreigner with you, a refugee like all my ancestors were.

13Turn your gaze from me so that I may smile again
before I die.”