⁵ Lord, let me know my end, the number of my days,
    that I may learn how frail I am.
⁶ To be sure, you establish the expanse of my days;
    indeed, my life is as nothing before you.
    Every man is but a breath.^(A)
Selah

⁷ Man goes about as a mere phantom;
    they hurry about, although in vain;
    he heaps up stores without knowing for whom.

¹⁰ Mortals are a mere breath,
    the sons of man but an illusion;^(A)
On a balance they rise;^[a]
    together they weigh nothing.

²⁴ He has shattered my strength in mid-course,
    has cut short my days.
²⁵ I plead, O my God,
    do not take me in the midst of my days.^[a](A)
    Your years last through all generations.

^4 [a]Man is but a breath,
    his days are like a passing shadow.^(A)

⁶ My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle;
    they come to an end without hope.

¹⁶ I waste away: I will not live forever;^(A)
    let me alone, for my days are but a breath.

⁵ Since his days are determined—
    you know the number of his months;
    you have fixed the limit which he cannot pass—

²⁷ Fear of the Lord prolongs life,
    but the years of the wicked are cut short.^(A)