who were cut down before their time, whose foundations were swept away by a flood?
In the six hundredth year of Noaḥ
as water wears away stones, its out-pouring washes away the soil of the earth – so You have destroyed the expectancy of man.
Before his day it is accomplished, and his branch shall not be green.
They spend their days in goodness, and in a moment go down to the grave.
They are like straw before the wind, and like chaff that a storm steals away.
He is swift on the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth; he does not turn into the way of vineyards.
Their being dies in youth, and their life among the male prostitutes.
‘How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth?
I said, “O my Ě
For You, O Elohim, do bring them down To the pit of destruction; Men of blood and deceit do not reach half their days; But I, I trust in You.
You have swept them away, They are as a sleep, Like grass that springs up in the morning.
The fear of יהוה prolongs days, But the years of the wrong ones are shortened.
Do not be wrong overmuch, and do not be a fool – why die before your time?
See, יהוה has one who is mighty and strong, like a downpour of hail and a destroying storm, like a flood of mighty waters overflowing, who casts down to the earth with the hand.
and did not spare the world of old, but preserved Noaḥ