1‘Mortals, born of woman,
are of few days and full of trouble.
2They spring up like flowers and wither away;
like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.
3Do you fix your eye on them?
Will you bring them14:3 Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew me before you for judgment?
4Who can bring what is pure from the impure?
No-one!
5A person’s days are determined;
you have decreed the number of his months
and have set limits he cannot exceed.
6So look away from him and let him alone,
till he has put in his time like a hired labourer.
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.
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 forth shoots like a plant.
10But a man dies and is laid low;
he breathes his last and is no more.
11As the water of a lake dries up
or a river bed becomes parched and dry,
12so he lies down and does not rise;
till the heavens are no more, people will not awake
or be roused 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!
14If someone dies, will they live again?
All the days of my hard service
I will wait for my renewal14:14 Or release to come.
15You will call and I will answer you;
you will long for the creature your hands have made.
16Surely then you will count my steps
but not keep track of my sin.
17My offences will be sealed up in a bag;
you will cover over my sin.
18‘But as a mountain erodes and crumbles
and as a rock is moved from its place,
19as water wears away stones
and torrents wash away the soil,
so you destroy a person’s hope.
20You overpower them once for all, and they are gone;
you change their countenance and send them away.
21If their children are honoured, they do not know it;
if their children are brought low, they do not see it.
22They feel but the pain of their own bodies
and mourn only for themselves.’
1“人为妇人所生，
一生短暂，充满患难。
2他如花盛开，转眼凋谢；
如影消逝，无法久留。
3你还察看这样的世人吗？
还要把我召来受审吗？
4谁能使污秽产生洁净呢？
没有人能。
5人的年日已被限定，
你掌管他的岁月，
设定他无法逾越的界限。
6求你转身，别去管他，
好让他如雇工度完他的日子。
7树木若被砍下，还有希望，
它仍可重新萌芽，
嫩枝生长不息。
8虽然树根在土里衰老，
树干在地里死去，
9但一有水气，
它就会像新栽的树一样发芽长枝。
10但人一死，就失去力量；
人一咽气，就不知去向。
11湖水会枯竭，
江河会干涸，
12人躺下便不再起来，
到诸天不复存在，
他仍不会醒来，
不会从长眠中被唤醒。
13但愿你把我藏在阴间，
把我藏起来直到你息怒，
定下眷顾我的日期。
14人若死了，还能复生吗？
我要在劳苦的岁月中等待，
直到我得释放的日子来临。
15那时你呼唤，我便回应，
你必惦念你亲手所造之物。
16那时你必鉴察我的脚步，
但不会追究我的罪恶。
17我的过犯会被封在袋中，
你会遮盖我的罪愆。
18“高山崩塌，
磐石挪移；
19流水磨损石头，
急流冲走泥土；
你也这样粉碎人的希望。
20你永远击败他，使他消逝；
你改变他的容颜，让他离世。
21他的后人得尊荣，他无从知晓；
他们遭贬抑，他也无法察觉。
22他只能感受自身的痛苦，
为自己哀哭。”
