Job 14
1 “We humans are very frail. We live only a short time, and we experience a lot of trouble.
As for man, the son of woman, his days are short and full of trouble.
2 We disappear quickly, like flowers that grow from the ground quickly and then wither and die [SIM]. We are like shadows that disappear [when the sun stops shining].
He comes out like a flower, and is cut down: he goes in flight like a shade, and is never seen again.
3 [Yahweh, ] why do you keep watching me [to see if I am doing something that is wrong] [RHQ]? Are you wanting to take me to court to judge me?
Is it on such a one as this that your eyes are fixed, with the purpose of judging him?
4 People are sinners from the time when they are born; who can cause them to be sinless? No one [RHQ]!
If only a clean thing might come out of an unclean! But it is not possible.
5 You have decided how long our lives will be. You have decided how many months we will live, and we cannot live more months than the (limit/number of months) that you have decided.
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;
6 So please stop examining us, and allow us to be alone, until/while we finish our time [here on earth], like a man finishes his work [at the end of the day].
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.
7 If someone cuts a tree down, we hope that it will sprout again and grow new branches.
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.
8 Its roots in the ground may be very old, and its stump may decay,
Though its root may be old in the earth, and its cut-off end may be dead in the dust;
9 but if some water falls on it, it may bud/sprout and send up shoots like a young plant.
Still, at the smell of water, it will make buds, and put out branches like a young plant.
10 But when we people lose all our strength and die, we stop breathing and then we are gone [forever].
But man comes to his death and is gone: he gives up his spirit, and where is he?
11 Just like water evaporates from the ocean, or like a riverbed dries up,
The waters go from a pool, and a river becomes waste and dry;
12 people [lie down and die and] do not get up again. Until the heavens disappear, people who die [EUP] do not wake up, and no one can wake them up.
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.
13 [“Yahweh, ] I wish that you would put me safely in the place of the dead and forget about me until you are no longer angry with me. I wish that you would decide how much time I would spend there, and then remember [that] I [am there]. (Sheol h7585)
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)
14 When we humans die, we will certainly not live again [RHQ]. If [I knew that] we would live again, I would wait patiently, and I would wait for you to release me [from my sufferings].
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.
15 You would call me, and I would answer. You would be eager to see me, one of the creatures that you had made.
At the sound of your voice I would give an answer, and you would have a desire for the work of your hands.
16 You would take care of [MET] me, instead of watching me to see if I would sin.
For now my steps are numbered by you, and my sin is not overlooked.
17 [It is as though the record of] my sins would be sealed in a small bag, and you would cover them up.
My wrongdoing is corded up in a bag, and my sin is shut up safe.
18 “But, just like mountains crumble and rocks fall down from a cliff,
But truly a mountain falling comes to dust, and a rock is moved from its place;
19 and just like water slowly wears away the stones, and just like floods wash away soil, [you eventually destroy us]; you do not allow us to continue to (hope/confidently expect) [that we will keep on living].
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.
20 You always defeat us, and then we die [EUP]. You cause our faces to look ugly after we die, and you send us away.
You overcome him for ever, and he is gone; his face is changed in death, and you send him away.
21 [When we die] we do not know if our sons will grow up and [do things that will cause them to] be honored. And if they become disgraced, we do not see that, [either].
His sons come to honour, and he has no knowledge of it; they are made low, but he is not conscious of it.
22 We will feel our own pains; we will not feel anything else; we will be sorry for ourselves, not for anyone else.”
Only his flesh still has pain, and his soul is sad.
