Psalms 78:39
37 Their hearts were disloyal to Him, and they were unfaithful to His covenant.
38 And yet He was compassionate; He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. He often restrained His anger and did not unleash His full wrath.
He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.
40 How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert!
41 Again and again they tested God and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.
- KJV
- For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
- WEB
- He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes away, and doesn’t come again.
- ASV
- And he remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
- DARBY
- And he remembered that they were flesh, a breath that passeth away and cometh not again.
- BLB
- And He remembered that they [were] flesh, a breath going by that does not return.
- ÅB
- Og han kom i hu at de var kjød, et åndepust som farer avsted og ikke kommer tilbake.
- OTB
- Så Han husket at de var bare kjød,
En forbigående vind som ikke vender tilbake. - B1930
- Og han kom i hu at de var kjød, et åndepust som farer avsted og ikke kommer tilbake.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
James 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 contextGenesis 6:3
So the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years.”
Read in contextJob 7:7
Remember that my life is but a breath. My eyes will never again see happiness.
Read in contextJob 7:16
I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
Read in contextPsalms 103:14–16
For He knows our frame; He is mindful that we are dust.
Read in contextJob 10:9
Please remember that You molded me like clay. Would You now return me to dust?
Read in contextJohn 3:6
Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit.
Read in context