Home Master Index
←Prev   Psalms 39 as rendered by/in  Next→ 


39:1  (A psalm by David for Jeduthun, the music leader.) I told myself, “I'll be careful not to sin by what I say, and I'll muzzle my mouth when evil people are near.”
39:2  I kept completely silent, but it did no good, and I hurt even worse.
39:3  I felt a fire burning inside, and the more I thought, the more it burned, until at last I said:
39:4  “Please, Lord, show me my future. Will I soon be gone?
39:5  You made my life short, so brief that the time means nothing to you. “Human life is but a breath,
39:6  and it disappears like a shadow. Our struggles are senseless; we store up more and more, without ever knowing who will get it all.
39:7  “What am I waiting for? I depend on you, Lord!
39:8  Save me from my sins. Don't let fools sneer at me.
39:9  You treated me like this, and I kept silent, not saying a word.
39:10  “Won't you stop punishing me? You have worn me down.
39:11  You punish us severely because of our sins. Like a moth, you destroy what we treasure most. We are as frail as a breath.
39:12  “Listen, Lord, to my prayer! My eyes are flooded with tears, as I pray to you. I am merely a stranger visiting in your home as my ancestors did.
39:13  Stop being angry with me and let me smile again before I am dead and gone.”