3  You ^sreturn man to dust

and say, “Return, O children of man!”¹

4  For ^ta thousand years in your sight

are but as yesterday when it is past,

or as a watch in the night.

5  You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,

like grass that is renewed in the morning:

6  in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;

in the evening it fades and withers.

7  For we are brought to an end by your anger;

by your wrath we are dismayed.

8  You have set our iniquities before you,

our ^usecret sins in the light of your presence.

9  For all our days pass away under your wrath;

we bring our years to an end like a sigh.

10  The years of our life are seventy,

or even by reason of strength eighty;

^vyet their span² is but toil and trouble;

^wthey are soon gone, and we fly away.

11  Who considers the power of your anger,

and your wrath according to the fear of you?