Job 14
1 As for man, the son of woman, his days are short and full of trouble.
Life is short and full of trouble,
2 He comes out like a flower, and is cut down: he goes in flight like a shade, and is never seen again.
like a flower that blooms and withers, like a passing shadow that soon disappears.
3 Is it on such a one as this that your eyes are fixed, with the purpose of judging him?
Do you even notice me, God, and why do you have to drag me to court?
4 If only a clean thing might come out of an unclean! But it is not possible.
Who can bring something clean of what is unclean? No one.
5 If his days are ordered, and you have knowledge of the number of his months, having given him a fixed limit past which he may not go;
You have determined how long we shall live—the number of months, a time limit on our lives.
6 Let your eyes be turned away from him, and take your hand from him, so that he may have pleasure at the end of his day, like a servant working for payment.
So leave us alone and give us some peace—so like a laborer we could enjoy a few hours of rest at the end of the day.
7 For there is hope of a tree; if it is cut down, it will come to life again, and its branches will not come to an end.
Even a tree that's cut down has the hope of sprouting again, of sending up shoots and continuing to live.
8 Though its root may be old in the earth, and its cut-off end may be dead in the dust;
Even though its roots grow old in the earth, and its stump dies in the ground,
9 Still, at the smell of water, it will make buds, and put out branches like a young plant.
just a trickle of water will make it bud and grow branches like a young plant.
10 But man comes to his death and is gone: he gives up his spirit, and where is he?
But human beings die, their strength dwindles away; they perish, and where are they then?
11 The waters go from a pool, and a river becomes waste and dry;
Like water evaporating from a lake and a river that dries up and disappears,
12 So man goes down to his last resting-place and comes not again: till the heavens come to an end, they will not be awake or come out of their sleep.
so human beings lie down and don't get up again. Until the heavens cease to exist they will not awake from their sleep.
13 If only you would keep me safe in the underworld, putting me in a secret place till your wrath is past, giving me a fixed time when I might come to your memory again! (Sheol h7585)
I wish you would hide me in Sheol; conceal me there until your anger is gone. Set a definite time for me there, and remember me! (Sheol h7585)
14 If death takes a man, will he come to life again? All the days of my trouble I would be waiting, till the time came for me to be free.
Will the dead live again? Then I would have hope through all my time of trouble until my release comes.
15 At the sound of your voice I would give an answer, and you would have a desire for the work of your hands.
You would call and I would answer you; you would long for me, the being that you made.
16 For now my steps are numbered by you, and my sin is not overlooked.
Then you would look after me and wouldn't be watching me to see if I sinned.
17 My wrongdoing is corded up in a bag, and my sin is shut up safe.
My sins would be sealed up in a bag and you would cover my guilt.
18 But truly a mountain falling comes to dust, and a rock is moved from its place;
But just as the mountains crumble and fall, and the rocks tumble down;
19 The stones are crushed small by the force of the waters; the dust of the earth is washed away by their overflowing: and so you put an end to the hope of man.
as water wears away the stones, as floods wash away the soil, so you destroy the hope people have.
20 You overcome him for ever, and he is gone; his face is changed in death, and you send him away.
You continually overpower them and they pass away; you distort their faces in death and send them away.
21 His sons come to honour, and he has no knowledge of it; they are made low, but he is not conscious of it.
Their children may become important or fall from their positions, but they don't know or see any of this.
22 Only his flesh still has pain, and his soul is sad.
As people die they only know their own pain and are sad for themselves.”
