Job 14
1 “Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble.
Man born of a 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.
Who cometh forth like a flower, and is destroyed, and fleeth as a shadow, and never continueth in the same state.
3 Do You open Your eyes to one like this? Will You bring him into judgment before You?
And dost thou think it meet to open thy eyes upon such an one, and to bring him into judgment with thee?
4 Who can bring out clean from unclean? No one!
Who can make him clean that is conceived of unclean seed? is it not thou who only art?
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 thee: thou hast appointed his bounds which cannot be passed.
6 look away from him and let him rest, so he can enjoy his day as a hired hand.
Depart a little from him, that he may rest, until his wished for day come, as that of the hireling.
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 hath hope: if it be cut, it groweth green again, and the boughs thereof sprout.
8 If its roots grow old in the ground and its stump dies in the soil,
If its root be old in the earth, and its stock be dead in the dust:
9 at the scent of water it will bud and put forth twigs like a sapling.
At the scent of water, it shall spring, and bring forth leaves, as when it was first planted.
10 But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last, and where is he?
But man when he shall be dead, and stripped and consumed, I pray you where is he?
11 As water disappears from the sea and a river becomes parched and dry,
As if the waters should depart out of the sea, and an emptied river should be 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.
So man when he is fallen asleep shall not rise again; till the heavens be broken, he shall not awake, nor rise up out of 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 me this, that thou mayst protect me in hell, and hide me till thy wrath pass, and appoint me a. time when thou wilt 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.
Shall man that is dead, thinkest thou, live again? all the days in which I am now in warfare, I expect until my change come.
15 You will call, and I will answer; You will desire the work of Your hands.
Thou shalt call me, and I will answer thee: to the work of thy hands thou shalt reach out thy right hand.
16 For then You would count my steps, but would not keep track of my sin.
Thou indeed hast numbered my steps, but spare my sins.
17 My transgression would be sealed in a bag, and You would cover over my iniquity.
Thou hast sealed up my offences as it were in a bag, but hast cured my iniquity.
18 But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and a rock is dislodged from its place,
A mountain falling cometh to nought, and a rock is removed out of 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 the stones, and with inundation the ground by little and little is washed away: so in like manner thou shalt destroy man.
20 You forever overpower him, and he passes on; You change his countenance and send him away.
Thou hast strengthened him for a little while, that he may pass away for ever: thou shalt change his face, and shalt send him away.
21 If his sons receive honor, he does not know it; if they are brought low, he is unaware.
Whether his children come to honour or dishonour, he shall not understand.
22 He feels only the pain of his own body and mourns only for himself.”
But yet his flesh, while he shall live, shall have pain, and his soul shall mourn over him.
