Parallel Verses
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
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]!
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.)
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.
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, let me know mine end, and the number of my days: that I may be certified how long I have to live. 5 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 6 Yea every man walketh as it were a shadow, and disquieteth himself in vain: he heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them.
Cross References
Psalm 62:9
As for men they are but vanity; the children of men are deceitful. Upon the weights they are altogether lighter than vanity itself.
Psalm 89:47
O remember how short my time is; hast thou made all men for nought?
Psalm 144:4
Man is like a thing of naught; his time passeth away like a shadow.
Genesis 47:9
And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, "The days of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years. Few and evil have the days of my life been, and have not attained unto the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimages."
Job 7:6
my days pass over more speedily than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.
Job 9:25-26
"My days are more swift than a runner: they are gone, and have seen no good thing.
Job 14:1-2
Man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live, and is full of divers miseries.
Psalm 39:11
When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin, thou makest his beauty to consume away, like as it were a moth fretting a garment; every man therefore is but vanity. Selah.
Psalm 90:4-5
For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday, seeing that is passed as a watch in the night.
Psalm 90:9-10
For when thou art angry, all our days are gone; we bring our years to an end, as it were a tale that is told.
Ecclesiastes 1:2
All is but vanity - sayeth the Preacher - all is but plain vanity.
Ecclesiastes 2:11
But when I considered all the works that my hands had wrought, and all the labours that I had taken therein: Lo, all was vanity and vexation of mind, and nothing of any value under the Sun.
Isaiah 40:17
All people in comparison of him are reckoned as nothing, yea vain vanity and emptiness.
James 4:14
and yet cannot tell what shall happen tomorrow. For what thing is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
2 Peter 3:8
Dearly beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, how that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.