For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding. For we are strangers - We have here neither right nor property.
And sojourners - Lodging as it were for a night, in the mansion of another.
As were all our fathers - These were, as we are supported by thy bounty, and tenants at will to thee.
Our days on the earth are as a shadow - They are continually declining, fading, and passing away. This is the place of our sojourning, and here we have no substantial, permanent residence.
There is none abiding - However we may wish to settle and remain in this state of things, it is impossible, because every earthly form is passing swiftly away, all is in a state of revolution and decay, and there is no abiding, מקוה mikveh, no expectation, that we shall be exempt from those changes and chances to which our fathers were subjected. "As the shadow of a bird flying in the air [אויר avir] of heaven, such are our days upon the earth; nor is there any hope to any son of man that he shall live for ever." - Targum.