1 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.

1 Homo natus de muliere, brevi vivens tempore,
repletur multis miseriis.

2 He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

2 Qui quasi flos egreditur et conteritur,
et fugit velut umbra, et numquam in eodem statu permanet.

3 And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?

3 Et dignum ducis super hujuscemodi aperire oculos tuos,
et adducere eum tecum in judicium?

4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.

4 Quis potest facere mundum de immundo conceptum semine?
nonne tu qui solus es?

5 Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;

5 Breves dies hominis sunt:
numerus mensium ejus apud te est:
constituisti terminos ejus, qui præteriri non poterunt.

6 Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.

6 Recede paululum ab eo, ut quiescat,
donec optata veniat, sicut mercenarii, dies ejus.

7 For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.

7 Lignum habet spem:
si præcisum fuerit, rursum virescit,
et rami ejus pullulant.

8 Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;

8 Si senuerit in terra radix ejus,
et in pulvere emortuus fuerit truncus illius,

9 Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.

9 ad odorem aquæ germinabit,
et faciet comam, quasi cum primum plantatum est.

10 But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?

10 Homo vero cum mortuus fuerit, et nudatus,
atque consumptus, ubi, quæso, est?

11 As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:

11 Quomodo si recedant aquæ de mari,
et fluvius vacuefactus arescat:

12 So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.

12 sic homo, cum dormierit, non resurget:
donec atteratur cælum, non evigilabit,
nec consurget de somno suo.

13 O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!

13 Quis mihi hoc tribuat, ut in inferno protegas me,
et abscondas me donec pertranseat furor tuus,
et constituas mihi tempus in quo recorderis mei?

14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

14 Putasne mortuus homo rursum vivat?
cunctis diebus quibus nunc milito, expecto
donec veniat immutatio mea.

15 Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.

15 Vocabis me, et ego respondebo tibi:
operi manuum tuarum porriges dexteram.

16 For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?

16 Tu quidem gressus meos dinumerasti:
sed parce peccatis meis.

17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity.

17 Signasti quasi in sacculo delicta mea,
sed curasti iniquitatem meam.

18 And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place.

18 Mons cadens defluit,
et saxum transfertur de loco suo:

19 The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man.

19 lapides excavant aquæ,
et alluvione paulatim terra consumitur:
et hominem ergo similiter perdes.

20 Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.

20 Roborasti eum paululum, ut in perpetuum transiret:
immutabis faciem ejus, et emittes eum.

21 His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.

21 Sive nobiles fuerint filii ejus,
sive ignobiles, non intelliget.

22 But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.

22 Attamen caro ejus, dum vivet, dolebit,
et anima illius super semetipso lugebit.