1. I SAID, I will take heed and guard my ways, that I may sin not with my tongue; I will muzzle my mouth as with a bridle while the wicked are before me.
2. I was dumb with silence, I held my peace without profit and had no comfort away from good, while my distress was renewed.
3. My 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 [to appreciate] the measure of my days–what it is; let me know and realize how frail I am [how transient is my stay here].
5. Behold, You have made my days as [short as] handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing in Your sight. Truly every man at his best is merely a breath! Selah [pause, and think calmly of that]!
6. Surely every man walks to and fro–like a shadow in a pantomime; surely for futility and emptiness he is in turmoil; each one heaps up riches, not knowing who will gather them. [I Cor. 7:31; James 4:14.]