because we were only born yesterday and know nothing. Our days on earth are only a shadow.
We are like foreigners and strangers, as our ancestors were. Our time on earth is like a shadow. There is no hope.
People are like a breath; their lives are like passing shadows.
We grow up like flowers and then dry up and die. We are like a passing shadow that does not last.
My days are like a passing shadow; I am like dried grass.
“My days go by faster than a weaver’s tool, and they come to an end without hope.
Jacob said to him, “My life has been spent wandering from place to place. It has been short and filled with trouble—only one hundred thirty years. My ancestors lived much longer than I.”
To you, a thousand years is like the passing of a day, or like a few hours in the night.
You have given me only a short life; my lifetime is like nothing to you. Everyone’s life is only a breath.Selah
King Rehoboam asked the elders who had advised Solomon during his lifetime, “How do you think I should answer these people?”
Those people will teach you and tell you and speak about what they know.
I thought, ‘Older people should speak, and those who have lived many years should teach wisdom.’
“All of us born to women live only a few days and have lots of trouble.
“You know nothing. You don’t understand. You walk in the dark, while the world is falling apart.
But, Lord, you rule forever, and your fame goes on and on.