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 laborer.
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 riverbed 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 offenses 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 honored, they do not know it;
if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.
22They feel but the pain of their own bodies
and mourn only for themselves.”
114:1 Mhu 2:23; Mwa 3:17; Ay 15:14; 10:20; Mt 11:11; Za 51:5“Mwanadamu aliyezaliwa na mwanamke
siku zake ni chache nazo zimejaa taabu.
214:2 Za 103:15; Yak 1:10; 1Pet 1:24; Isa 40:6-8; Mhu 6:12Huchanua kama ua kisha hunyauka;
huwa kama kivuli kipitacho upesi, wala hadumu.
314:3 Za 144:3; 8:4; 143:2; Ay 7:18Je, unamwekea jicho lako mtu kama huyo?
Je, utamleta mbele yako katika hukumu?
414:4 Mwa 5:3; Ay 4:17; Za 51:10; Rum 5:12; Efe 2:1-3; Yn 3:6Ni nani awezaye kutoa kitu safi kutoka kitu najisi?
Hakuna awezaye!
514:5 Ay 24:1; 21:21; Za 31:15; 139:16; 39:4; 90:12; Mdo 17:26Siku za mwanadamu zimewekewa mpaka;
umekwisha kutangaza idadi ya miezi yake
na kuweka mpaka ambao hawezi kuuvuka.
614:6 Ay 7:19; 7:1, 2; Za 39:13; Isa 16:14; 21:16Hivyo angalia mbali umwache,
hadi awe amekamilisha muda wake
kama mtu aliyeajiriwa.
714:7 Ay 19:10; 24:20; Za 52:5; Isa 11:1; 53:2; 60:21; 6:13“Kwa maana lipo tumaini kwa mti;
kama ukikatwa utachipuka tena,
nayo machipukizi yake mapya hayatakoma.
814:8 Isa 6:13; 11:1; 53:2Mizizi yake yaweza kuchakaa ardhini
na kisiki chake kufa udongoni,
914:9 Ay 29:9; Zek 10:1; Za 1:3; Yer 17:8; Eze 31:7; Law 26:4; Eze 34:27lakini kwa kupata dalili ya maji utachipua
na kutoa machipukizi kama mche.
1014:10 Ay 14:12; 10:21; 13:19Lakini mwanadamu hufa, na huo ndio mwisho wake;
hutoa pumzi ya mwisho, naye hayuko tena!
1114:11 2Sam 14:14; Isa 19:5Kama vile maji yatowekavyo katika bahari,
au mkondo wa mto ukaushwavyo na kuwa mkavu,
1214:12 Za 102:26; Ufu 21:1; Mdo 3:21; Ay 14:10; Ufu 20:11ndivyo mwanadamu alalavyo chini asiamke;
hadi mbingu zitakapokuwa hazipo tena,
wanadamu hawataamka au kuamshwa
kutoka kwenye usingizi wao.
1314:13 Za 30:5; Isa 54:7; Ay 6:8; 7:9; Isa 26:20; 54:7; Mwa 8:1“Laiti kama ungenificha kaburini,14:13 Kaburini hapa maana yake ni Kuzimu, kwa Kiebrania ni Sheol.
na kunisitiri hadi hasira yako ipite!
Laiti ungeniwekea wakati,
na kisha ukanikumbuka!
1414:14 Ay 7:1; 2Fal 6:33; Za 16:10; 1Kor 15:42-58; Flp 3:21Je, kama mtu akifa, aweza kuishi tena?
Siku zote za kazi zangu ngumu
nitangojea kufanywa upya kwangu.
1514:15 Ay 13:22; Yn 5:28; 1The 4:16; Za 50:4Utaniita nami nitakuitika;
utakionea shauku kiumbe ambacho mikono yako ilikiumba.
1614:16 Mit 5:21; Yer 16:17; 32:19; Hos 13:12; 1Kor 13:5Hakika ndipo utakapozihesabu hatua zangu,
lakini hutazifuatia dhambi zangu.
1714:17 Kum 32:34; Ay 13:23; 9:30; Yer 32:10Makosa yangu yatafungiwa kwa lakiri kwenye mfuko,
nawe utazifunika dhambi zangu.
1814:18 Eze 38:20; Ay 18:4“Lakini kama mlima umomonyokavyo na kufikichika
na kama vile mwamba uondolewavyo mahali pake,
1914:19 Eze 13:13; Mwa 7:23; Ay 7:8kama maji yamalizavyo mawe,
na mafuriko yachukuavyo udongo,
ndivyo unavyoharibu tegemeo la mwanadamu.
2014:20 Ay 4:20; 7:10; 8:18; 12:19; 27:19; Yak 1:10Humshinda mara moja kwa daima, naye hutoweka;
waibadilisha sura yake na kumwondoa.
2114:21 Mhu 9:5; Isa 63:16; 1Sam 4:20Kama wanawe wakipewa heshima, yeye hafahamu;
kama wakidharauliwa, yeye haoni.
2214:22 Za 38:7; Isa 21:3; Yer 4:19; Ay 21:21Yeye hasikii kingine isipokuwa maumivu ya mwili wake mwenyewe,
naye huomboleza kwa ajili yake mwenyewe.”
