⁵ You have made my days^(A) a mere handbreadth;
    the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Everyone is but a breath,^(B)
    even those who seem secure.^[a]

⁶ “Surely everyone goes around^(C) like a mere phantom;^(D)
    in vain they rush about,^(E) heaping up wealth^(F)
    without knowing whose it will finally be.^(G)

⁷ “But now, Lord, what do I look for?
    My hope is in you.^(H)

¹⁰ Do not trust in extortion^(A)
    or put vain hope in stolen goods;^(B)
though your riches increase,
    do not set your heart on them.^(C)

²⁴ So I said:
“Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days;
    your years go on^(A) through all generations.
²⁵ In the beginning^(B) you laid the foundations of the earth,
    and the heavens^(C) are the work of your hands.^(D)

⁴ They are like a breath;^(A)
    their days are like a fleeting shadow.^(B)