7  “For there is hope for a tree,

if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,

and that its shoots will not cease.

8  Though its root grow old in the earth,

and ^xits stump die in the soil,

9  yet at the scent of water it will bud

and put out ^ybranches like a young plant.

10  But a man dies and is laid low;

man breathes his last, and ^zwhere is he?

11  ^aAs waters fail from a lake

and a river wastes away and dries up,

12  so a man lies down and rises not again;

till ^bthe heavens are no more he will not awake

or be ^croused out of his sleep.

8  ^zFor what is the hope of the godless ^awhen God cuts him off,

when God takes away his life?

18  ^oFor Sheol does not thank you;

death does not praise you;

those who go down to the pit do not hope

for your faithfulness.

21  But this I call to mind,

and ^ktherefore I have hope:

22  ^lThe steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;¹

^lhis mercies never come to an end;