1For the choir director, for Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. I said, 'I will guard my ways That I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle While the wicked are in my presence.'
2I was mute and silent, I refrained [even] from good, And my sorrow grew worse.
3My heart was hot within me, While I was musing the fire burned; [Then] I spoke with my tongue:
4'LORD, make me to know my end And what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am.
5'Behold, You have made my days [as] handbreadths, And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Selah.
6'Surely every man walks about as a phantom; Surely they make an uproar for nothing; He amasses [riches] and does not know who will gather them.
7'And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.
8'Deliver me from all my transgressions; Make me not the reproach of the foolish.
9'I have become mute, I do not open my mouth, Because it is You who have done [it].
10'Remove Your plague from me; Because of the opposition of Your hand I am perishing.
11'With reproofs You chasten a man for iniquity; You consume as a moth what is precious to him; Surely every man is a mere breath. Selah.
12'Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears; For I am a stranger with You, A sojourner like all my fathers.
13'Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may smile [again] Before I depart and am no more.'