Once I said...

"In the noontime of life I must depart!
To the gates of the nether world
I shall be consigned
For the rest of my years."
I said, "I shall see the Lord no more
In the land of the living.
No longer shall I behold my fellow people
Among those who dwell in the world".

My dwelling, like a shepherd's tent,
Is struck down and borne away from me:
You have folded up my life, like a weaver-
Who serves the last thread.

Day and night you give me over to torment;
I cry out until the dawn,
Like a lion God breaks all my bones;
Day and night you give me over to torment.

Like a swallow I utter shrill cries;
I moan like a dove.
My eyes grow weak, gazing heavenward:
O Lord, I am in Straits; be my bond!

You have preserved my life
From the pit of destruction.
When you cast behind your back all my sins.

For it is not the nether world
That gives you thanks,
Nor death that praises you;
Neither do those who go down into the pit
Await your kindness.

The living, the living gives you thanks,
As I do today,
Parents declare to their children,
O God your faithfulness.

The Lord is our savior:
We shall sing stringed instruments
In the house of the Lord
All the days of our life.
Isaiah 38:10-14,17b-20
(Lauds - Office for the Dead)