¹⁸ I said in my heart, `It is' because of the sons of men, that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are `but as' beasts.

²² So brutish was I, and ignorant; I was `as' a beast before thee.

¹⁷ And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

¹⁸ thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

¹⁹ in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

¹² But these, as creatures without reason, born mere animals to be taken and destroyed, railing in matters whereof they are ignorant, shall in their destroying surely be destroyed,

²⁴ For, All flesh is as grass, And all the glory thereof as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth:

²⁷ And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this `cometh' judgment;

²³ and that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory,

⁴ God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words, And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment.

⁵ Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: In the morning they are like grass which groweth up.

⁶ In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; In the evening it is cut down, and withereth.

⁷ For we are consumed in thine anger, And in thy wrath are we troubled.

⁸ Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, Our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.

⁹ For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: We bring our years to an end as a sigh.

¹⁰ The days of our years are threescore years and ten, Or even by reason of strength fourscore years; Yet is their pride but labor and sorrow; For it is soon gone, and we fly away.

¹¹ Who knoweth the power of thine anger, And thy wrath according to the fear that is due unto thee?

¹² So teach us to number our days, That we may get us a heart of wisdom.

¹⁸ Surely thou settest them in slippery places: Thou castest them down to destruction.

¹⁹ How are they become a desolation in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors.

⁴ Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, And done that which is evil in thy sight; That thou mayest be justified when thou speakest, And be clear when thou judgest.

¹⁹ He shall go to the generation of his fathers; They shall never see the light.

²⁰ Man that is in honor, and understandeth not, Is like the beasts that perish. Psalm 50 A Psalm of Asaph.

¹⁴ They are appointed as a flock for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd; And the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; And their beauty shall be for Sheol to consume, That there be no habitation for it.

¹² But man `being' in honor abideth not: He is like the beasts that perish.

⁸ Wilt thou even annul my judgment? Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be justified?

¹⁶ How much less one that is abominable and corrupt, A man that drinketh iniquity like water!

¹ Man, that is born of a woman, Is of few days, and full of trouble.

² He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

³ And dost thou open thine eyes upon such a one, And bringest me into judgment with thee?

⁴ Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.