1. For the leader, for Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
2. I said, “I will watch my ways,lest I sin with my tongue;I will keep a muzzle on my mouth.”
3. Mute and silent before the wicked,I refrain from good things.But my sorrow increases;
4. my heart smolders within me.In my sighing a fire blazes up,and I break into speech:
5. Lord, let me know my end, the number of my days,that I may learn how frail I am.
6. To be sure, you establish the expanse of my days;indeed, my life is as nothing before you.Every man is but a breath.Selah
7. Man goes about as a mere phantom;they hurry about, although in vain;he heaps up stores without knowing for whom.
8. And now, Lord, for what do I wait?You are my only hope.
9. From all my sins deliver me;let me not be the taunt of fools.
10. I am silent and do not open my mouthbecause you are the one who did this.
11. Take your plague away from me;I am ravaged by the touch of your hand.
12. You chastise man with rebukes for sin;like a moth you consume his treasures.Every man is but a breath.Selah
13. Listen to my prayer, Lord, hear my cry;do not be deaf to my weeping!For I am with you like a foreigner,a refugee, like my ancestors.
14. Turn your gaze from me, that I may smilebefore I depart to be no more.