Job 14
1 Life is short and full of trouble,
Man, who is born of woman, lives only a few days and is full of trouble.
2 like a flower that blooms and withers, like a passing shadow that soon disappears.
He sprouts from the ground like a flower and is cut down; he flees like a shadow and does not last.
3 Do you even notice me, God, and why do you have to drag me to court?
Do you look at any of these? Do you bring me into judgment with you?
4 Who can bring something clean of what is unclean? No one.
Who can bring something clean out of something unclean? No one.
5 You have determined how long we shall live—the number of months, a time limit on our lives.
Man's days are determined. The number of his months is with you; you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass.
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.
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 Even a tree that's cut down has the hope of sprouting again, of sending up shoots and continuing to live.
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 Even though its roots grow old in the earth, and its stump dies in the ground,
Though its root grows old in the earth, and its stump dies in the ground,
9 just a trickle of water will make it bud and grow branches like a young plant.
yet even if it only smells water, it will bud and send out branches like a plant.
10 But human beings die, their strength dwindles away; they perish, and where are they then?
But man dies; he becomes weak; indeed, man stops breathing, and then where is he?
11 Like water evaporating from a lake and a river that dries up and disappears,
As water disappears from a lake, and as a river loses water and dries 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.
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 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)
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 Will the dead live again? Then I would have hope through all my time of trouble until my release comes.
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 You would call and I would answer you; you would long for me, the being that you made.
You would call, and I would answer you. You would have a desire for the work of your hands.
16 Then you would look after me and wouldn't be watching me to see if I sinned.
You would number and care for my footsteps; you would not keep track of my sin.
17 My sins would be sealed up in a bag and you would cover my guilt.
My transgression would be sealed up in a bag; you would cover up my iniquity.
18 But just as the mountains crumble and fall, and the rocks tumble down;
But even mountains fall and come to nothing; even rocks are moved out of their place;
19 as water wears away the stones, as floods wash away the soil, so you destroy the hope people have.
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 continually overpower them and they pass away; you distort their faces in death and send them away.
You always defeat him, and he passes away; you change his face and send him away to die.
21 Their children may become important or fall from their positions, but they don't know or see any of this.
If his sons are honored, he does not know it; and if they are brought low, he does not see it.
22 As people die they only know their own pain and are sad for themselves.”
He feels only the pain of his own body, and he mourns for himself.
