Job 14

1 “We humans are very frail. We live only a short time, and we experience a lot of trouble.

Life is 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].

like a flower that blooms and withers, like a passing shadow that soon disappears.

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 even notice me, God, and why do you have to drag me to court?

4 People are sinners from the time when they are born; who can cause them to be sinless? No one [RHQ]!

Who can bring something clean of what is unclean? No 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.

You have determined how long we shall live—the number of months, a time limit on our lives.

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].

So leave us alone and give us some peace—so like a laborer we could enjoy a few hours of rest at the end of the day.

7 If someone cuts a tree down, we hope that it will sprout again and grow new branches.

Even a tree that's cut down has the hope of sprouting again, of sending up shoots and continuing to live.

8 Its roots in the ground may be very old, and its stump may decay,

Even though its roots grow old in the earth, and its stump dies in the ground,

9 but if some water falls on it, it may bud/sprout and send up shoots like a young plant.

just a trickle of water will make it bud and grow 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 human beings die, their strength dwindles away; they perish, and where are they then?

11 Just like water evaporates from the ocean, or like a riverbed dries up,

Like water evaporating from a lake and a river that dries up and disappears,

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 human beings lie down and don't get up again. Until the heavens cease to exist they will not awake from 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)

I wish you would hide me in Sheol; conceal me there until your anger is gone. Set a definite time for me there, 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].

Will the dead live again? Then I would have hope through all my time of trouble until my release comes.

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 long for me, the being that you made.

16 You would take care of [MET] me, instead of watching me to see if I would sin.

Then you would look after me and wouldn't be watching me to see if I sinned.

17 [It is as though the record of] my sins would be sealed in a small bag, and you would cover them up.

My sins would be sealed up in a bag and you would cover my guilt.

18 “But, just like mountains crumble and rocks fall down from a cliff,

But just as the mountains crumble and fall, and the rocks tumble down;

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].

as water wears away the stones, as floods wash away the soil, so you destroy the hope people have.

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 continually overpower them and they pass away; you distort their faces in death and send them 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].

Their children may become important or fall from their positions, but they don't know or see any of this.

22 We will feel our own pains; we will not feel anything else; we will be sorry for ourselves, not for anyone else.”

As people die they only know their own pain and are sad for themselves.”