⁵ Are your days like those of a mortal
    or your years like those of a strong man,^(A)

²⁴ So I said:
“Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days;
    your years go on^(A) through all generations.
²⁵ In the beginning^(B) you laid the foundations of the earth,
    and the heavens^(C) are the work of your hands.^(D)
26 They will perish,^(E) but you remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
    and they will be discarded.
²⁷ But you remain the same,^(F)
    and your years will never end.^(G)

²³ I was formed long ages ago,
    at the very beginning, when the world came to be.
²⁴ When there were no watery depths, I was given birth,
    when there were no springs overflowing with water;^(A)
25 before the mountains were settled in place,^(B)
    before the hills, I was given birth,^(C)
26 before he made the world or its fields
    or any of the dust of the earth.^(D)