⁹ As a cloud vanishes^(A) and is gone,
    so one who goes down to the grave^(B) does not return.^(C)

⁷ “At least there is hope for a tree:^(A)
    If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
    and its new shoots^(B) will not fail.^(C)
8 Its roots may grow old in the ground
    and its stump^(D) die in the soil,
⁹ yet at the scent of water^(E) it will bud
    and put forth shoots like a plant.^(F)
10 But a man dies and is laid low;^(G)
    he breathes his last and is no more.^(H)
11 As the water of a lake dries up
    or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,^(I)
12 so he lies down and does not rise;^(J)
    till the heavens are no more,^(K) people will not awake
    or be roused from their sleep.^(L)

⁴ I am counted among those who go down to the pit;^(A)
    I am like one without strength.^(B)

¹⁰ Do you show your wonders to the dead?
    Do their spirits rise up and praise you?^(A)
11 Is your love declared in the grave,
    your faithfulness^(B) in Destruction^[a]?
¹² Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
    or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?