How short you have made my life! In your sight my lifetime seems nothing. Indeed every living being is no more than a puff of wind,

no more than a shadow. All we do is for nothing; we gather wealth, but don't know who will get it.

Human beings are all like a puff of breath; great and small alike are worthless. Put them on the scales, and they weigh nothing; they are lighter than a mere breath.

Remember how short my life is; remember that you created all of us mortal!

Do you think he will trust a creature of clay, a thing of dust that can be crushed like a moth?

We are all born weak and helpless. All lead the same short, troubled life.

Will you even look at me, God, or put me on trial and judge me?

It is useless, useless, said the Philosopher. Life is useless, all useless.

I have seen everything done in this world, and I tell you, it is all useless. It is like chasing the wind.

Useless, useless, said the Philosopher. It is all useless.

My life is like the evening shadows; I am like dry grass.

As for us, our life is like grass. We grow and flourish like a wild flower;

then the wind blows on it, and it is gone--- no one sees it again.

Like an evening shadow I am about to vanish; I am blown away like an insect.

We will all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which can't be gathered again. Even God does not bring the dead back to life, but the king can at least find a way to bring a man back from exile.

You know, O LORD, that we pass through life like exiles and strangers, as our ancestors did. Our days are like a passing shadow, and we cannot escape death.

Our life is short, we know nothing at all; we pass like shadows across the earth.

but it will not go well for the wicked. Their life is like a shadow and they will die young, because they do not obey God."