A Prayer by Moses, the Man of God.

¹ Lord! a dwelling-place, hast, thou, become to us, From generation to generation:

² Before, the mountains, were born, Or thou hadst brought forth the earth and the world, Even, from age to age, thou, [wast] GOD.

³ Thou causest man to return unto dust, And hast said—Return, ye sons of Adam!

⁴ For, a thousand years, in thine eyes, [are], As yesterday, in that it passed away, Or [as] a watch in the night.

⁵ Thou hast snatched them away, A sleep, do they become, In the morning, [they are] like grass that shooteth up,

⁶ In the morning, it sprouteth and shooteth up, By the evening, it is cut down and withered.

⁷ For we are consumed in thine anger, And, in thy wrath, are we dismayed;

⁸ Thou hast set, Our iniquities before thee, Our secret near the luminary of thy face.

⁹ For, all our days, decline in thy wrath,—We end our years like a sigh.

¹⁰ The days of our years, have, in them, three score years and ten, And, if, by reason of strength, they have fourscore years, Yet, their boast, is labour and sorrow, For it hath passed quickly, and we have flown away.

¹¹ Who knoweth the strength of thine anger? Even, according to the fear of thee, is thy wrath!

¹² How to number our days, so grant us to know, That we may win us a heart that hath wisdom.

¹³ Return, Yahweh, oh how long? And have compassion upon thy servants;

¹⁴ Satisfy us, in the morning, with thy lovingkindness, That we may shout aloud and be glad, Throughout all our days.

¹⁵ Make us glad, according to, The days thou hast humbled us, The years we have seen misfortune:

¹⁶ Let thy work, appear unto thy servants, And, thy majesty, upon their children;

¹⁷ And let the delightfulness of Adonay our God be upon us,—And, the work of our hands, establish thou upon us, Yea, the work of our hands, establish thou it.