Job 14

1 As for man, the son of woman, his days are short and full of trouble.

For a mortal born of a woman [is] short lived, and full of wrath.

2 He comes out like a flower, and is cut down: he goes in flight like a shade, and is never seen again.

Or he falls like a flower that has bloomed; and he departs like a shadow, and cannot continue.

3 Is it on such a one as this that your eyes are fixed, with the purpose of judging him?

Hast thou not taken account even of him, and caused him to enter into judgment before thee?

4 If only a clean thing might come out of an unclean! But it is not possible.

For who shall be pure from uncleanness? not even one;

5 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;

if even his life should be [but] one day upon the earth: and his months are numbered by him: thou hast appointed [him] for a time, and he shall by no means exceed [it].

6 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.

Depart from him, that he may be quiet, and take pleasure in his life, [though] as a hireling.

7 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.

For there is hope for a tree, even if it should be cut down, [that] it shall blossom again, and its branch shall not fail.

8 Though its root may be old in the earth, and its cut-off end may be dead in the dust;

For though its root should grow old in the earth, and its stem die in the rock;

9 Still, at the smell of water, it will make buds, and put out branches like a young plant.

it will blossom from the scent of water, and will produce a crop, as one newly planted.

10 But man comes to his death and is gone: he gives up his spirit, and where is he?

But a man that has died is utterly gone; and when a mortal has fallen, he is no more.

11 The waters go from a pool, and a river becomes waste and dry;

For the sea wastes in [length of] time, and a river fails and is dried up.

12 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.

And man that has lain down [in death] shall certainly not rise again till the heaven be dissolved, and they shall not awake from their sleep.

13 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)

For oh that thou hadst kept me in the grave, and hadst hidden me until thy wrath should cease, and thou shouldest set me a time in which thou wouldest remember me! (Sheol h7585)

14 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.

For if a man should die, shall he live [again], having accomplished the days of his life? I will wait till I exist again?

15 At the sound of your voice I would give an answer, and you would have a desire for the work of your hands.

Then shalt thou call, and I will hearken to thee: but do not thou reject the work of thine hands.

16 For now my steps are numbered by you, and my sin is not overlooked.

But thou hast numbered my devices: and not one of my sins shall escape thee?

17 My wrongdoing is corded up in a bag, and my sin is shut up safe.

An thou hast sealed up my transgressions in a bag, and marked if I have been guilty of any transgression unawares.

18 But truly a mountain falling comes to dust, and a rock is moved from its place;

And verily a mountain falling will utterly be destroyed, and a rock shall be worn out of its place.

19 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.

The waters wear the stones, and waters falling headlong [overflow] a heap of the earth: and thou destroyest the hope of man.

20 You overcome him for ever, and he is gone; his face is changed in death, and you send him away.

Thou drivest him to an end, and he is gone: thou settest thy face against him, and sendest him away;

21 His sons come to honour, and he has no knowledge of it; they are made low, but he is not conscious of it.

and though his children be multiplied, he knows [it] not; and if they be few, he is not aware.

22 Only his flesh still has pain, and his soul is sad.

But his flesh is in pain, and his soul mourns.