[1] I said, “I will keep watch over my ways That I may not sin with my tongue; I will keep watch over my mouth as with a muzzle While the wicked are in my presence.” [2] I was mute with silence, I even kept silent from speaking good, And my anguish grew worse. [3] My heart was hot within me, While I meditated the fire was burning; Then I spoke with my tongue: [4] “Yahweh, cause me to know my end And what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am. [5] “Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my lifetime as nothing before You; Surely every man, even standing firm, is altogether vanity. Selah. [6] “Surely every man walks about as a shadow; Surely they make an uproar in vain; He piles up riches and does not know who will gather them. [7] “And now, Lord, what do I hope in? My expectation is in You. [8] “Deliver me from all my transgressions; Make me not the reproach of the wicked fool. [9] “I have become mute, I do not open my mouth, Because it is You who have done it. [10] “Remove Your plague from me; Because of the opposition of Your hand I am wasting away. [11] “With reproofs You chasten a man for iniquity; You consume as a moth what is precious to him; Surely every man is vanity. Selah. [12] “Hear my prayer, O Yahweh, and give ear to my cry for help; Do not be silent at my tears; For I am a sojourner with You, A foreign resident like all my fathers. [13] “Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may smile again Before I go and am no more.”
