[1] For the choirmaster. For Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. I said, “I will watch my ways so that I will not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle as long as the wicked are present.” [2] I was speechless and still; I remained silent, even from speaking good, and my sorrow was stirred. [3] My heart grew hot within me; as I mused, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue: [4] “Show me, O LORD, my end and the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is. [5] You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah [6] Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away. [7] And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You. [8] Deliver me from all my transgressions; do not make me the reproach of fools. [9] I have become mute; I do not open my mouth because of what You have done. [10] Remove Your scourge from me; I am perishing by the force of Your hand. [11] You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity, consuming like a moth what he holds dear; surely each man is but a vapor. Selah [12] Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. For I am a foreigner dwelling with You, a stranger like all my fathers. [13] Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may again be cheered before I depart and am no more.”
