⁷ “For there is hope for a tree,
If it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
And that its tender shoots will not cease.
⁸ Though its root may grow old in the earth,
And its stump may die in the ground,
⁹ Yet at the scent of water it will bud
And bring forth branches like a plant.
¹⁰ But man dies and ^[d]is laid away;
Indeed he ^[e]breathes his last
And where is ^(I)he?
¹¹ As water disappears from the sea,
And a river becomes parched and dries up,
¹² So man lies down and does not rise.
^(J)Till the heavens are no more,
They will not awake
Nor be roused from their sleep.

¹³ “Oh, that You would hide me in the grave,
That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past,
That You would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
¹⁴ If a man dies, shall he live again?
All the days of my hard service ^(K)I will wait,
Till my change comes.
^15 (L)You shall call, and I will answer You;
You shall desire the work of Your hands.
¹⁶ For now ^(M)You number my steps,
But do not watch over my sin.
^17 (N)My transgression is sealed up in a bag,
And You ^[f]cover my iniquity.

¹⁸ “But as a mountain falls and crumbles away,
And as a rock is moved from its place;
¹⁹ As water wears away stones,
And as torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
So You destroy the hope of man.
²⁰ You prevail forever against him, and he passes on;
You change his countenance and send him away.
²¹ His sons come to honor, and ^(O)he does not know it;
They are brought low, and he does not perceive it.
²² But his flesh will be in pain over it,
And his soul will mourn over it.”