Job 14
1 “Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble.
Man, born of woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries.
2 Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
He comes forth like a flower, and is crushed, and he flees, as if a shadow, and never remains in the same state.
3 Do You open Your eyes to one like this? Will You bring him into judgment before You?
And do you consider it fitting to look down with your eyes on someone in this way and to lead him into judgment with you?
4 Who can bring out clean from unclean? No one!
Who can make him clean who is conceived of unclean seed? Are you not the only one who can?
5 Since his days are determined and the number of his months is with You, and since You have set limits that he cannot exceed,
The days of man are short, and the number of his months is with you; you have determined his limits, which cannot be surpassed.
6 look away from him and let him rest, so he can enjoy his day as a hired hand.
Withdraw a little from him, so that he may rest, until his awaited day arrives, like that of the hired hand.
7 For there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender shoots will not fail.
A tree has hope: if it has been cut, it turns green again, and its branches spring forth.
8 If its roots grow old in the ground and its stump dies in the soil,
If its roots grow old in the earth, and its trunk passes into dust,
9 at the scent of water it will bud and put forth twigs like a sapling.
at the scent of water, it will sprout and bring forth leaves, as when it had first been planted.
10 But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last, and where is he?
Truly, when a man dies, and has been left unprotected, and has decayed, I ask you where is he?
11 As water disappears from the sea and a river becomes parched and dry,
It is as if the waters had receded from the sea and an emptied river had dried up;
12 so a man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no more, he will not be awakened or roused from sleep.
just so, when a man is fallen asleep, he will not rise again, until the heavens are worn away; he will not awaken, nor rise from his sleep.
13 If only You would hide me in Sheol and conceal me until Your anger has passed! If only You would appoint a time for me and then remember me! (Sheol h7585)
Who will grant this to me, that you will protect me in the underworld, and hide me until your fury passes by, and establish a time for me, in which you will remember me? (Sheol h7585)
14 When a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, until my renewal comes.
Do you suppose that a dead man will live again? On each of the days in which I now battle, I wait until my transformation occurs.
15 You will call, and I will answer; You will desire the work of Your hands.
You will call me and I will answer you; to the work of your hands, you will extend your right hand.
16 For then You would count my steps, but would not keep track of my sin.
Indeed, you have numbered my steps, but you have been lenient with my sins.
17 My transgression would be sealed in a bag, and You would cover over my iniquity.
You have sealed up my offenses, as if in a purse, but you have cured my iniquity.
18 But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and a rock is dislodged from its place,
A falling mountain flows away, and a stone is transferred from its place.
19 as water wears away the stones and torrents wash away the soil, so You destroy a man’s hope.
Waters wear away stones, and with a flood the land is reduced little by little; and similarly, you will destroy man.
20 You forever overpower him, and he passes on; You change his countenance and send him away.
You have strengthened him for a little while, so that he may cross over into eternity. You will change his face and send him forth.
21 If his sons receive honor, he does not know it; if they are brought low, he is unaware.
Whether his sons have been noble or ignoble, he will not understand.
22 He feels only the pain of his own body and mourns only for himself.”
And in this way his body, while he yet lives, will have grief, and his soul will mourn over himself.
