Psalms 39
The Confession of a Sufferer
1I said, “I will be careful what I do
and will not let my tongue make me sin;
I will not say anything
while evil people are near.”
2I kept quiet, not saying a word,
not even about anything good!
But my suffering only grew worse,
3and I was overcome with anxiety.
The more I thought, the more troubled I became;
I could not keep from asking:
4“LORD, how long will I live?
When will I die?
Tell me how soon my life will end.”
5How 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,
6no more than a shadow.
All they do is for nothing;
they gather wealth, but don't know who will get it.
7What, then, can I hope for, Lord?
I put my hope in you.
8Save me from all my sins,
and don't let fools laugh at me.
9I will keep quiet, I will not say a word,
for you are the one who made me suffer like this.
10Don't punish me any more!
I am about to die from your blows.
11You punish our sins by your rebukes,
and like a moth you destroy what we love.
Indeed we are no more than a puff of wind!
12Hear my prayer, LORD,
and listen to my cry;
come to my aid when I weep.
Like all my ancestors
I am only your guest for a little while.
13Leave me alone so that I may have some happiness
before I go away and am no more.
Good News Translation® with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Anglicisation © The British and Foreign Bible Society 1976, 1994, 2004
Additional material © The British and Foreign Bible Society 2017
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