1 I said, “I will guard my ways,
Lest I sin with my ^atongue;
I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle,
While the wicked are before me.” ‡

2 ^aI was mute with silence,
I held my peace even from good;
And my sorrow was stirred up. ‡

3 My heart was hot within me;
While I was¹ musing, the fire burned.
Then I spoke with my tongue: ‡

4 “Lord, ^amake me to know my end,
And what is the measure of my days,
That I may know how frail I am. ‡

5 Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths,
And my age is as nothing before You;
Certainly every man at his best state is but ^avapor. Selah ‡

6 Surely every man walks about like a shadow;
Surely they¹ busy themselves in vain;
He heaps up riches,
And does not know who will gather them. ‡

7 “And now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My ^ahope is in You. ‡

8 Deliver me from all my transgressions;
Do not make me ^athe reproach of the foolish. ‡

9 ^aI was mute, I did not open my mouth,
Because it was ^bYou who did it. ‡

10 ^aRemove Your plague from me;
I am consumed by the blow of Your hand. ‡

11 When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity,
You make his beauty ^amelt away like a moth;
Surely every man is vapor. 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, ^aas all my fathers were. ‡

13 ^aRemove Your gaze from me, that I may regain strength,
Before I go away and ^bam no more.” ‡