Job 14:1-22
14 “Man, born of woman,Is short-lived+ and filled with trouble.*+
2 He comes up like a blossom and then withers away;*+He flees like a shadow and disappears.+
3 Yes, you have fixed your eye upon him,And you bring him* into judgment with yourself.+
4 Who can produce someone clean from someone unclean?+
No one can!
5 If his days are decided,The number of his months is with you;You have set a limit for him that he may not go beyond.+
6 Turn your gaze away from him so that he may rest,Until, like a hired worker, he finishes out his day.+
7 For there is hope even for a tree.
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,And its twigs will continue to grow.
8 If its root grows old in the groundAnd its stump dies in the soil,
9 At the scent of water it will sprout;And it will produce branches like a new plant.
10 But a man dies and lies powerless;When a human expires, where is he?+
11 Waters disappear from the sea,And a river drains away and dries up.
12 Man also lies down and does not get up.+
Until heaven is no more, they will not wake up,Nor will they be aroused from their sleep.+
13 O that in the Grave* you would conceal me,+That you would hide me until your anger passes by,That you would set a time limit for me and remember me!+
14 If a man dies, can he live again?+
I will wait all the days of my compulsory serviceUntil my relief comes.+
15 You will call, and I will answer you.+
You will long* for the work of your hands.
16 But for now, you keep counting my every step;You watch only for my sin.
17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag,And you seal up my error with glue.
18 As a mountain falls and crumbles awayAnd a rock is dislodged from its place,
19 As water wears away stonesAnd its torrents wash away earth’s soil,So you have destroyed the hope of mortal man.
20 You keep overpowering him until he perishes;+You change his appearance, and you send him away.
21 His sons are honored, but he does not know it;They become insignificant, but he does not realize it.+
22 He feels pain only while he is still in his flesh;He* mourns only while he is still alive.”
Footnotes
^ Or “glutted with agitation.”
^ Or possibly, “and is cut off.”
^ Lit., “me.”
^ Or “yearn.”
^ Or “His soul.”