Psalms 39

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.”

For the end, a Song of David, to Idithun. I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I set a guard on my mouth, while the sinner stood in my presence.

2 I was speechless and still; I remained silent, even from speaking good, and my sorrow was stirred.

I was dumb, and humbled myself, and kept silence from good [words]; and my grief was renewed.

3 My heart grew hot within me; as I mused, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue:

My heart grew hot within me, and a fire would kindle in my (meditation) 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.

O Lord, make me to know mine end, and the number of my days, what it is; that I may know what I lack.

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.

Behold, you have made my days old; and my existence [is] as nothing before you: nay, every man living [is] altogether vanity. (Pause)

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.

Surely man walks in a shadow; nay, he is disquieted in vain: he lays up treasures, and knows not for whom he shall gather them.

7 And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.

And now what [is] my expectation? [is it] not the Lord? and my ground [of hope] is with you. (Pause)

8 Deliver me from all my transgressions; do not make me the reproach of fools.

Deliver me from all my transgressions: you have made me a reproach to the foolish.

9 I have become mute; I do not open my mouth because of what You have done.

I was dumb, and opened not my mouth; for you are he that made me.

10 Remove Your scourge from me; I am perishing by the force of Your hand.

Remove your scourges from me: I have fainted by reason of the strength 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.

You chasten man with rebukes for iniquity, and you make his life to consume away like a spider's web; nay, every man is disquieted in vain. (Pause)

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.

O Lord, listen to my prayer and my supplication: attend to my tears: be not silent, for I am a sojourner in the land, and a stranger, as all my fathers [were].

13 Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may again be cheered before I depart and am no more.”

Spare me, that I may be refreshed, before I depart, and be no more.