Psalms 39:5
3 My heart grew hot within me; as I mused, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “Show me, O LORD, my end and the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is.
You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah
6 Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.
7 And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.
Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah
- KJV
- Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
- WEB
- Behold, you have made my days hand widths. My lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely every man stands as a breath.” Selah.
- ASV
- Behold, thou hast made my days [as] handbreadths; And my life-time is as nothing before thee: Surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity. Selah
- DARBY
- Behold, thou hast made my days [as] hand-breadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before thee; verily, every man, [even] the high placed, is altogether vanity. Selah.
- BLB
- Behold, [as] handbreadths have made my days, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each one [is] a vapor, each man is stationary. Selah
- ÅB
- Se, som en håndsbredd har du satt dagene mine,
og livstiden min er som ingenting for deg;
bare tomhet er hvert menneske, hvor fast han enn står.»
Sela. - OTB
- Se, Du har gjort mine dager så korte som håndsbredder,
Og mitt liv er som ingenting for Deg;
Sannelig, all menneskehet er bare et pust.
Sela - B1930
- Se, som en håndsbredd har du satt mine dager, og min livstid er som intet for dig; visselig, bare tomhet er hvert menneske, hvor fast han enn står. Sela.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Psalms 144:4
Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.
Read in contextPsalms 89:47
Remember the briefness of my lifespan! For what futility You have created all men!
Read in contextPsalms 62:9
Lowborn men are but a vapor, the exalted but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.
Read in contextPsalms 90:9–10
For all our days decline in Your fury; we finish our years with a sigh.
Read in contextEcclesiastes 2:11
Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
Read in contextPsalms 39:11
You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity, consuming like a moth what he holds dear; surely each man is but a vapor. Selah
Read in contextJames 4:14
You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
Read in contextJob 14:1–2
“Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble.
Read in context