Psalm 39

¹I said, “I will keep watch upon my ways, *so that I do not offend with my tongue.

²I will put a muzzle on my mouth *while the wicked are in my presence.”

³So I held my tongue and said nothing; *I refrained from rash words; but my pain became unbearable.

⁴My heart was hot within me; while I pondered, the fire burst into flame; *I spoke out with my tongue:

⁵Lord, let me know my end and the number of my days, *so that I may know how short my life is.

⁶You have given me a mere handful of days, and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight; *truly, even those who stand erect are but a puff of wind.

⁷We walk about like a shadow, and in vain we are in turmoil; *we heap up riches and cannot tell who will gather them.

⁸And now, what is my hope? *O Lord, my hope is in you.

⁹Deliver me from all my transgressions *and do not make me the taunt of the fool.

¹⁰I fell silent and did not open my mouth, *for surely it was you that did it.

¹¹Take your affliction from me; *I am worn down by the blows of your hand.

¹²With rebukes for sin you punish us; like a moth you eat away all that is dear to us; *truly, everyone is but a puff of wind.

¹³Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; *hold not your peace at my tears.

¹⁴For I am but a sojourner with you, *a wayfarer, as all my forebears were.

¹⁵Turn your gaze from me, that I may be glad again, *before I go my way and am no more.