1The vanity of life.
For the Chief Musician, for 1Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
I said, I will take heed to my ways,That I sin not with my tongue:I will keep 2my mouth with a bridle,While the wicked is before me.2I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, 3even from good;And my sorrow was stirred.3My heart was hot within me;While I was musing the fire burned;Then spake I with my tongue:4Jehovah, make me to know mine end,And the measure of my days, what it is;Let me know how frail I am.5Behold, thou hast made my days as handbreadths;And my life-time is as nothing before thee:Surely every man 4at his best estate is altogether 5vanity. Selah6Surely every man walketh 6in a vain show;Surely they are disquieted 7in vain:He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.7And now, Lord, what wait I for?My hope is in thee.8Deliver me from all my transgressions:Make me not the reproach of the foolish.9I was dumb, I opened not my mouth;Because thou didst it.10Remove thy stroke away from me:I am consumed by the 8blow of thy hand.11When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity,Thou 9makest his beauty to consume away like a moth:Surely every man is 10vanity. Selah12Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, and give ear unto my cry;Hold not thy peace at my tears:For I am a stranger with thee,A sojourner, as all my fathers were.13Oh 11spare me, that I may 12recover strength,Before I go hence, and be no more.