Psalms, chapter 39

A Prayer for Forgiveness

I told myself, “I'll be careful not to sin by what I say,

and I'll muzzle my mouth when evil people are nearI.”

²I kept completely silent, but it did no good,*

and I hurt even worse.

³I felt a fire burning insideI, and the more I thought,

the more it burned, until at last I said:

⁴“Please, Lord, show me my future.

Will I soon be gone?

⁵You made my life short, so brief that the time

means nothing to you.

“Human life is but a breath,

⁶and it disappears like a shadow.

Our struggles are senseless;

we store up more and more,

without ever knowing who will get it allI.

⁷“What am I waiting for? I depend on you, Lord!

⁸Save me from my sins. Don't let fools sneer at me.

⁹You treated me like this,

and I kept silent, not saying a word.

¹⁰“Won't you stop punishing me? You have worn me down.

¹¹You punish us severely because of our sins.

Like a moth, you destroy what we treasure most.

We are as frail as a breath.

¹²“Listen, Lord, to my prayer!

My eyes are flooded with tears, as I pray to you.

I am merely a stranger visiting in your homeH

as my ancestors did.

¹³Stop being angry with me and let me smile again

before I am dead and gone.”