[1] Lord, You have been our dwelling place [our refuge, our sanctuary, our stability] in all generations. [2] Before the mountains were born Or before You had given birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are [the eternal] God. [3] You turn man back to dust, And say, “Return [to the earth], O children of [mortal] men!” [4] For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, Or as a watch in the night. [5] You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep [forgotten as soon as they are gone]; In the morning they are like grass which grows anew— [6] In the morning it flourishes and springs up; In the evening it wilts and withers away. [7] For we have been consumed by Your anger And by Your wrath we have been terrified. [8] You have placed our wickedness before you, Our secret sins [which we tried to conceal, You have placed] in the [revealing] light of Your presence. [9] For all our days pass away in Your wrath; We have finished our years like a whispered sigh. [10] The days of our life are seventy years—Or even, if because of strength, eighty years; Yet their pride [in additional years] is only labor and sorrow, For it is soon gone and we fly away. [11] Who understands the power of Your anger? [Who connects this brevity of life among us with Your judgment of sin?] And Your wrath, [who connects it] with the [reverent] fear that is due You? [12] So teach us to number our days, That we may cultivate and bring to You a heart of wisdom. [13] Turn, O LORD [from Your fierce anger]; how long will it be? Be compassionate toward Your servants—revoke Your sentence. [14] O satisfy us with Your lovingkindness in the morning [now, before we grow older], That we may rejoice and be glad all our days. [15] Make us glad in proportion to the days You have afflicted us, And the years we have suffered evil. [16] Let Your work [the signs of Your power] be revealed to Your servants And Your [glorious] majesty to their children. [17] And let the [gracious] favor of the Lord our God be on us; Confirm for us the work of our hands—Yes, confirm the work of our hands.
