Psalms 39

1 I said [to myself], “I will be careful not to sin by the things that I say [MTY]. I will not say anything [to complain] while wicked people are near to me [and can hear me].”

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 [So] I was completely silent [DOU], and I did not [even] talk about things that were good, but it was useless, because I began to suffer even more.

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

3 I became very anxious/worried [IDM]. As I thought [about my troubles], I became more worried. Then [finally] I said [MTY],

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

4 “Yahweh, show/tell me how long I will live. Tell me when I will die. Tell me how many years I will live!

“Show me, O LORD, my end and the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is.

5 [It seems that] you have caused me to live only a short time; (my lifetime/all the time that I have lived) seems like nothing to you. The time that all we humans live is [as short as] [MET] a puff of wind.

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.

6 Then we disappear like a shadow does. It seems that all that we do is for nothing/useless. We [sometimes] get a lot of money, but we do not know who will get it [after we die].

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 So now, Yahweh, if I expect [RHQ] [to receive blessings from other people], I will be disappointed. You are the [only] one from whom I confidently expect [to receive blessings].

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

8 Save me from [being punished for] all the sins that I have committed. And do not allow foolish people to make fun of me.

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

9 I did not say anything [when you punished me], because [I knew that] you were the one who caused [me to suffer].

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

10 But now, please stop punishing me! [If you do not do that], I am about to die because of the ways that you [SYN] have struck/afflicted me.

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

11 When you rebuke someone and punish him for the sin that he has committed, you destroy the things that (he loves/are precious to him), like moths’ [larva] destroy clothing. Our lives [disappear like] a puff of wind.

You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity, consuming like a moth what he holds dear; surely each man is but a vapor.

12 Yahweh, listen to me while I pray; pay attention to me while I cry out to you. Help me while I am crying. I am here on the earth for only a short time, like all my ancestors.

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 [Now] please leave me alone, [and do not punish me any more] in order that I may smile and be happy for a while before I die. [EUP, DOU]”

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