Job 14
1 “We humans are very frail. We live only a short time, and we experience a lot of trouble.
“Man, who is born of a woman, is of few days, 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 grows up like a flower, and is cut down. He also flees like a shadow, and doesn’t continue.
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?
Do you open your eyes on such a one, and bring me into judgment with you?
4 People are sinners from the time when they are born; who can cause them to be sinless? No one [RHQ]!
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.
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.
Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his bounds that he can’t pass.
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].
Look away from him, that he may rest, until he accomplishes, as a hireling, his day.
7 If someone cuts a tree down, we hope that it will sprout again and grow new branches.
“For there is hope for a tree if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, that the tender branch of it will not cease.
8 Its roots in the ground may be very old, and its stump may decay,
Though its root grows old in the earth, and its stock dies in the ground,
9 but if some water falls on it, it may bud/sprout and send up shoots like a young plant.
yet through the scent of water it will bud, and sprout boughs like a plant.
10 But when we people lose all our strength and die, we stop breathing and then we are gone [forever].
But man dies, and is laid low. Yes, man gives up the spirit, and where is he?
11 Just like water evaporates from the ocean, or like a riverbed dries up,
As the waters fail from the sea, and the river wastes and dries up,
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 lies down and doesn’t rise. Until the heavens are no more, they will not awake, nor be roused 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)
“Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would keep me secret until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time and remember me! (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 a man dies, will he live again? I would wait all the days of my warfare, until my release should come.
15 You would call me, and I would answer. You would be eager to see me, one of the creatures that you had made.
You would call, and I would answer you. 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.
But now you count my steps. Don’t you watch over my sin?
17 [It is as though the record of] my sins would be sealed in a small bag, and you would cover them up.
My disobedience is sealed up in a bag. You fasten up my iniquity.
18 “But, just like mountains crumble and rocks fall down from a cliff,
“But the mountain falling comes to nothing. The rock is removed out of 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 waters wear the stones. The torrents of it wash away the dust of the earth. So you destroy 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 forever prevail against him, and he departs. You change his face, and 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 honor, and he doesn’t know it. They are brought low, but he doesn’t perceive it of them.
22 We will feel our own pains; we will not feel anything else; we will be sorry for ourselves, not for anyone else.”
But his flesh on him has pain, and his soul within him mourns.”
