1 I said, I will guard my ways, that I sin not with my tongue; I will put a muzzle on my mouth So long as the wicked is before me. 2 I made myself dumb in still submission, I kept silence joylessly, And my sorrow was stirred. 3 My heart was hot within me; While I mused the fire blazed up; I spake with my tongue. 4 Make me, Jehovah, to know my end, And the measure of my days, what it is; Let me know how fleeting I am. 5 Behold, as handbreadths hast Thou made my days, And my lifetime is as nothing before Thee; Surely nothing but a breath is every man, stand he ever so firm. Selah. 6 Surely every man goes about like a shadow; Surely for a breath do they make [such a stir]; He heaps up [goods] and knows not who will gather them. 7 And now what wait I for, Lord? My hope--to Thee it goes. 8 From all my transgressions deliver me; Make me not a reproach of the fool. 9 I make myself dumb, I open not my mouth, For Thou hast done [it]. 10 Remove Thy stroke from me; I am wasted by the assault of Thy hand. 11 When with rebukes for iniquity Thou correctest a man, Like a moth Thou frayest away his gracefulness; Surely every man is [but] a breath. Selah. 12 Hear my prayer, Jehovah, and give ear to my cry; At my weeping be not silent: For I am a guest with Thee, And a sojourner like all my fathers. 13 Look away from me, that I may brighten up, Before I go hence and be no more. Protracted suffering, recognised as chastisement for sin, had wasted the psalmist's strength. It had been borne for a while in silence, but the rush of emotion had burst the floodgates. The psalm does not repeat the words which forced themselves from the hot heart, but preserves for us the calmer flow which followed. It falls into four parts, the first three of which contain three verses each, and the fourth is expanded into four, divided into two couples.