Parallel Verses
Bible in Basic English
You have made my days no longer than a hand's measure; and my years are nothing in your eyes; truly, every man is but a breath. (Selah.)
New American Standard Bible
And my
Surely every man
King James Version
Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
Holman Bible
and my life span as nothing in Your sight.
Yes, every mortal man is only a vapor.
International Standard Version
Look, you have made my life span fit in your hand; It is nothing compared to yours. Surely every person at their best is a puff of wind. Interlude
A Conservative Version
Behold, thou have made my days [as] handbreadths, and my life-time is as nothing before thee. Surely every man at his best condition is altogether vanity. Selah.
American Standard Version
Behold, thou hast made my days as handbreadths; And my life-time is as nothing before thee: Surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity. Selah
Amplified
“Behold, You have made my days as [short as] hand widths,
And my lifetime is as nothing in Your sight.
Surely every man at his best is a mere breath [a wisp of smoke, a vapor that vanishes]!
Darby Translation
Behold, thou hast made my days as hand-breadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before thee; verily, every man, even the high placed, is altogether vanity. Selah.
Julia Smith Translation
Behold, thou gavest my days a hand-breadth, and my life as nothing before thee: but every man stood all vanity. Silence.
King James 2000
Behold, you have made my days as a handbreadth; and my age is as nothing before you: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
Lexham Expanded Bible
Look, you have made my days [mere] handbreadths, and my lifespan as nothing next to you. Surely every person standing firm [is] complete vanity. Selah
Modern King James verseion
Behold, You have made my days as a handbreadth, and my age is as nothing before You. Surely every man standing is altogether vanity. Selah.
Modern Spelling Tyndale-Coverdale
Behold, thou hast made my days a span long, and mine age is even as nothing in respect of thee; and verily every man living is altogether vanity. Selah
NET Bible
Look, you make my days short-lived, and my life span is nothing from your perspective. Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor.
New Heart English Bible
Behold, you have made my days handbreadths. My lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely every man stands as a breath." Selah.
The Emphasized Bible
Lo! as hand-breadths, hast thou granted my days, and my life-time, is as nothing before thee, - Surely, a mere breath, are all men, even such as stand firm. Selah.
Webster
Behold, thou hast made my days as a hand-breadth; and my age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
World English Bible
Behold, you have made my days handbreadths. My lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely every man stands as a breath." Selah.
Youngs Literal Translation
Lo, handbreadths Thou hast made my days, And mine age is as nothing before Thee, Only, all vanity is every man set up. Selah.
Themes
Handbreadth » A measure (about four inches)
Life » Uncertainty of physical » Only a handbreadth in extent
Life » Brief » Only a handbreadth in extent
natural Life » Is compared to » A hand-breadth
Measures » Of length » Handbreadth
The Providence of God » Is exercised in » Determining the period of human life
Topics
References
Smith
Word Count of 20 Translations in Psalm 39:5
Verse Info
Context Readings
The Fleeting Nature Of Life
4 Lord, give me knowledge of my end, and of the measure of my days, so that I may see how feeble I am. 5 You have made my days no longer than a hand's measure; and my years are nothing in your eyes; truly, every man is but a breath. (Selah.) 6 Truly, every man goes on his way like an image; he is troubled for no purpose: he makes a great store of wealth, and has no knowledge of who will get it.
Cross References
Psalm 62:9
Truly men of low birth are nothing, and men of high position are not what they seem; if they are put in the scales together they are less than a breath.
Psalm 89:47
See how short my time is; why have you made all men for no purpose?
Genesis 47:9
And Jacob said, The years of my wanderings have been a hundred and thirty; small in number and full of sorrow have been the years of my life, and less than the years of the wanderings of my fathers.
Job 7:6
My days go quicker than the cloth-worker's thread, and come to an end without hope.
Job 9:25-26
My days go quicker than a post-runner: they go in flight, they see no good.
Job 14:1-2
As for man, the son of woman, his days are short and full of trouble.
Psalm 39:11
By the weight of your wrath against man's sin, the glory of his form is wasted away; truly every man is but a breath. (Selah.)
Ecclesiastes 1:2
All is to no purpose, said the Preacher, all the ways of man are to no purpose.
Ecclesiastes 2:11
Then I saw all the works which my hands had made, and everything I had been working to do; and I saw that all was to no purpose and desire for wind, and there was no profit under the sun.
Isaiah 40:17
All the nations are as nothing before him; even less than nothing, a thing of no value.
James 4:14
When you are not certain what will take place tomorrow. What is your life? It is a mist, which is seen for a little time and then is gone.
2 Peter 3:8
But, my loved ones, keep in mind this one thing, that with the Lord one day is the same as a thousand years, and a thousand years are no more than one day.