Job 14
1 As for man, the son of woman, his days are short and full of trouble.
Man, who is born of woman, lives only a few days and is 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.
He sprouts from the ground like a flower and is cut down; he flees like a shadow and does not last.
3 Is it on such a one as this that your eyes are fixed, with the purpose of judging him?
Do you look at any of these? Do you bring me into judgment with you?
4 If only a clean thing might come out of an unclean! But it is not possible.
Who can bring something clean out of something 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;
Man's days are determined. The number of his months is with you; you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass.
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.
Look away from him that he may rest, so that he may enjoy his day like a hired man if he can do so.
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.
There can be hope for a tree; if it is cut down, it might sprout again, so that its tender stalk does not disappear.
8 Though its root may be old in the earth, and its cut-off end may be dead in the dust;
Though its root grows 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.
yet even if it only smells water, it will bud and send out branches like a plant.
10 But man comes to his death and is gone: he gives up his spirit, and where is he?
But man dies; he becomes weak; indeed, man stops breathing, and then where is he?
11 The waters go from a pool, and a river becomes waste and dry;
As water disappears from a lake, and as a river loses water and dries up,
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 people lie down and do not rise again. Until the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor be roused out of 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)
Oh, that you would hide me away in Sheol away from troubles, and that you would keep me in private until your wrath is over, that you would set me a fixed time to stay there and then call me to mind! (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.
If a man dies, will he live again? If so, I would wish to wait all my weary time there until my release should come.
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 have a desire for the work of your hands.
16 For now my steps are numbered by you, and my sin is not overlooked.
You would number and care for my footsteps; you would not keep track of my sin.
17 My wrongdoing is corded up in a bag, and my sin is shut up safe.
My transgression would be sealed up in a bag; you would cover up my iniquity.
18 But truly a mountain falling comes to dust, and a rock is moved from its place;
But even mountains fall and come to nothing; even rocks are moved out of their place;
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.
the waters wear down the stones; their flooding washes away the dust of the earth. Like this, you destroy the hope of man.
20 You overcome him for ever, and he is gone; his face is changed in death, and you send him away.
You always defeat him, and he passes away; you change his face and send him away to die.
21 His sons come to honour, and he has no knowledge of it; they are made low, but he is not conscious of it.
If his sons are honored, he does not know it; and if they are brought low, he does not see it.
22 Only his flesh still has pain, and his soul is sad.
He feels only the pain of his own body, and he mourns for himself.
