10. I said: In the middle of my days,I shall go to the gates of Sheol;I am to be deprived of the rest of my years.
11. I said, I shall not see the Lord,even the Lord, in the land of the living;I shall see man no morewith the inhabitants of the world.
12. My dwelling is pulled upand removed from me as a shepherd’s tent;I rolled up my life like a weaver.He cuts me off from the loom;from day even to night You make an end of me.
13. I composed my soul until morning,like a lion, so He breaks all my bones;from day even to night You make an end of me.
14. Like a crane or a swallow, so I twitter;I mourn as a dove;my eyes look wistfully upward.O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me.
15. What shall I say?For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it.I shall wander about all my yearsin the bitterness of my soul.
16. O Lord, by these things men live,and in all these things is the life of my spirit;O restore me to healthand make me live!
17. Surely it was for my own peacethat I had great bitterness;but You have kept my soulfrom the pit of corruption,for You have cast all my sinsbehind Your back.
18. For Sheol cannot thank You,death cannot praise You;those who go down into the pitcannot hope for Your faithfulness.
19. It is the living who give thanks to You,as I do this day;a father explains to his sonsabout Your faithfulness.
20. The Lord shall surely save me;therefore, we will sing my songs to the stringed instrumentsall the days of our livesin the house of the Lord.
21. For Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and lay it on the boil, and he shall recover.”
22. Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”