Job 14

1 Life is short and full of trouble,

For a mortal born of a woman [is] short lived, and full of wrath.

2 like a flower that blooms and withers, like a passing shadow that soon disappears.

Or he falls like a flower that has bloomed; and he departs like a shadow, and cannot continue.

3 Do you even notice me, God, and why do you have to drag me to court?

Hast thou not taken account even of him, and caused him to enter into judgment before thee?

4 Who can bring something clean of what is unclean? No one.

For who shall be pure from uncleanness? not even one;

5 You have determined how long we shall live—the number of months, a time limit on our lives.

if even his life should be [but] one day upon the earth: and his months are numbered by him: thou hast appointed [him] for a time, and he shall by no means exceed [it].

6 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.

Depart from him, that he may be quiet, and take pleasure in his life, [though] as a hireling.

7 Even a tree that's cut down has the hope of sprouting again, of sending up shoots and continuing to live.

For there is hope for a tree, even if it should be cut down, [that] it shall blossom again, and its branch shall not fail.

8 Even though its roots grow old in the earth, and its stump dies in the ground,

For though its root should grow old in the earth, and its stem die in the rock;

9 just a trickle of water will make it bud and grow branches like a young plant.

it will blossom from the scent of water, and will produce a crop, as one newly planted.

10 But human beings die, their strength dwindles away; they perish, and where are they then?

But a man that has died is utterly gone; and when a mortal has fallen, he is no more.

11 Like water evaporating from a lake and a river that dries up and disappears,

For the sea wastes in [length of] time, and a river fails and is dried up.

12 so human beings lie down and don't get up again. Until the heavens cease to exist they will not awake from their sleep.

And man that has lain down [in death] shall certainly not rise again till the heaven be dissolved, and they shall not awake from their sleep.

13 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)

For oh that thou hadst kept me in the grave, and hadst hidden me until thy wrath should cease, and thou shouldest set me a time in which thou wouldest remember me! (Sheol h7585)

14 Will the dead live again? Then I would have hope through all my time of trouble until my release comes.

For if a man should die, shall he live [again], having accomplished the days of his life? I will wait till I exist again?

15 You would call and I would answer you; you would long for me, the being that you made.

Then shalt thou call, and I will hearken to thee: but do not thou reject the work of thine hands.

16 Then you would look after me and wouldn't be watching me to see if I sinned.

But thou hast numbered my devices: and not one of my sins shall escape thee?

17 My sins would be sealed up in a bag and you would cover my guilt.

An thou hast sealed up my transgressions in a bag, and marked if I have been guilty of any transgression unawares.

18 But just as the mountains crumble and fall, and the rocks tumble down;

And verily a mountain falling will utterly be destroyed, and a rock shall be worn out of its place.

19 as water wears away the stones, as floods wash away the soil, so you destroy the hope people have.

The waters wear the stones, and waters falling headlong [overflow] a heap of the earth: and thou destroyest the hope of man.

20 You continually overpower them and they pass away; you distort their faces in death and send them away.

Thou drivest him to an end, and he is gone: thou settest thy face against him, and sendest him away;

21 Their children may become important or fall from their positions, but they don't know or see any of this.

and though his children be multiplied, he knows [it] not; and if they be few, he is not aware.

22 As people die they only know their own pain and are sad for themselves.”

But his flesh is in pain, and his soul mourns.