Book Four
90
A prayer by the prophet Moses
1 Lord, you have always ◄been like a home for us/protected us► [MET].
2 Before you created the mountains,
before you formed the earth and everything that is in it,
you were eternally God,
and you will be God forever.
3 When people die, you cause their corpses to become soil again;
you change their corpses to become dirt like the first man was created from.
4 When you ◄consider/think about► time,
1,000 years are as short as [SIM] one day which passes;
you consider that [HYP] they are as short as a few hours in the night.
5 You cause people suddenly to die [MET];
they live only a short time, like a dream lasts only a short time.
They are like grass/weeds [SIM] that grow up.
6 In the morning [DOU] the grass sprouts and grows well,
but in the evening it dries up and ◄completely withers/dies►.
7 Similarly, because of the sins that we have committed, you become angry with us;
you terrify us and then you destroy us.
8 It is as though you place our sins in front of you,
you spread out even our secret sins where you can see them.
9 Because you are angry with us, you cause our lives to end;
the years that we live pass as quickly as a sigh does.
10 People live for only 70 years;
but if they are strong, some of them live for 80 years.
But even during good years we have much pain and troubles;
our lives soon end, and we die [EUP].
11 No one [RHQ] has fully experienced the powerful things you can do to them when you are angry with them,
and people are not afraid that you will greatly punish them because of your being angry with them.
12 So teach/help us to realize that we live for only a short time
in order that we may use our time wisely.
13 Yahweh, how long will you be angry with us?
Pity us who serve you.
14 Each morning show us that your faithfully loving us is enough for us
in order that we may shout joyfully and be happy for the rest of our lives.
15 Cause us to now be as happy for as many years as you ◄afflicted us/caused us to be sad► and we experienced troubles.
16 Enable us to see the great things that you do
and enable our descendants to also see your glorious power.
17 Lord, our God, give us your blessings
and enable us to be successful;
yes, cause us to be successful in everything that we do [DOU]!