[1] I said, "I will guard my ways, Lest I sin with my tongue; I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle, While the wicked are before me." [2] I was mute with silence, I held my peace even from good; And my sorrow was stirred up. [3] My heart was hot within me; While I was musing, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue: [4] "LORD, make me to know my end, And what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am. [5] Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah [6] Surely every man walks about like a shadow; Surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up riches, And does not know who will gather them. [7] "And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You. [8] Deliver me from all my transgressions; Do not make me the reproach of the foolish. [9] I was mute, I did not open my mouth, Because it was You who did it. [10] Remove Your plague from me; I am consumed by the blow of Your hand. [11] When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity, You make his beauty melt away like a moth; Surely every man is vapor. Selah [12] "Hear my prayer, O LORD, And give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears; For I am a stranger with You, A sojourner, as all my fathers were. [13] Remove Your gaze from me, that I may regain strength, Before I go away and am no more."
