Job 14

¹Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.²He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. ³And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee? ⁴Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.⁵Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass; ⁶Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.

⁷For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. ⁸Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; ⁹Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. ¹⁰But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?¹¹As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up: ¹²So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. ¹³O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! ¹⁴If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. ¹⁵Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.

¹⁶For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin? ¹⁷My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity. ¹⁸And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place. ¹⁹The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man. ²⁰Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away. ²¹His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them. ²²But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.