Before the mountains were born,
before You gave birth to the earth and the world,
from eternity to eternity, You are God.

Teach us to number our days carefully
so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.

For in Your sight a thousand years
are like yesterday that passes by,
like a few hours of the night.

BOOK IV
(Psalms 90–106)A prayer of Moses, the man of God. Lord, You have been our refuge
in every generation.

Our lives last seventy years
or, if we are strong, eighty years.
Even the best of them are struggle and sorrow;
indeed, they pass quickly and we fly away.

Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us;
establish for us the work of our hands—
establish the work of our hands!

Satisfy us in the morning with Your faithful love
so that we may shout with joy and be glad all our days.

You return mankind to the dust,
saying, “Return, descendants of Adam.”

You have set our unjust ways before You,
our secret sins in the light of Your presence.

For all our days ebb away under Your wrath;
we end our years like a sigh.

Who understands the power of Your anger?
Your wrath matches the fear that is due You.

You end their lives; they sleep.
They are like grass that grows in the morning—

Let Your work be seen by Your servants,
and Your splendor by their children.

Lord—how long?
Turn and have compassion on Your servants.

For we are consumed by Your anger;
we are terrified by Your wrath.

Make us rejoice for as many days as You have humbled us,
for as many years as we have seen adversity.

in the morning it sprouts and grows;
by evening it withers and dries up.