Job 14

¹Anyone born of woman

is short of days and full of trouble. ^a

²He blossoms like a flower, then withers; ^b

he flees like a shadow and does not last.

³Do you really take notice of one like this?

Will you bring me into judgment against you? ^c,^d

⁴Who can produce something pure from what is impure?

No one!

⁵Since a person’s days are determined

and the number of his months depends on you,

and since you have set ^e limits he cannot pass, ^f

⁶look away from him and let him rest

so that he can enjoy his day like a hired worker. ^g

⁷There is hope for a tree:

If it is cut down, it will sprout again,

and its shoots will not die.

⁸If its roots grow old in the ground

and its stump starts to die in the soil,

⁹the scent of water makes it thrive

and produce twigs like a sapling. ^h

¹⁰But a person dies and fades away;

he breathes his last #— #where is he?

¹¹As water disappears from a lake

and a river becomes parched and dry,

¹²so people lie down never to rise again.

They will not wake up until the heavens are no more; ⁱ

they will not stir from their sleep.

¹³If only you would hide me in Sheol ^j

and conceal me until your anger ^k passes.

If only you would appoint a time for me

and then remember me.

¹⁴When a person dies, will he come back to life?

If so, I would wait ^l all the days of my struggle ^m

until my relief comes.

¹⁵You would call, and I would answer you.

You would long for the work of your hands. ⁿ

¹⁶For then you would count my steps ^o

but would not take note ^p of my sin.

¹⁷My rebellion would be sealed up in a bag,

and you would cover over my iniquity.

¹⁸But as a mountain collapses and crumbles

and a rock is dislodged from its place,

¹⁹as water wears away stones

and torrents wash away the soil from the land,

so you destroy a man’s hope. ^q

²⁰You completely overpower him, and he passes on;

you change his appearance and send him away.

²¹If his sons receive honor, he does not know it;

if they become insignificant, he is unaware of it. ^r

²²He feels only the pain of his own body

and mourns only for himself.