| 1 | Man who is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. |
| 2 | He comes forth like a flower and withers; he flees also like a shadow and continues not. |
| 3 | And [Lord] do You open Your eyes upon such a one, and bring me into judgment with You? |
| 4 | Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one! |
| 5 | Since a man’s days are already determined, and the number of his months is wholly in Your control, and he cannot pass the bounds of his allotted time— |
| 6 | [O God] turn from him [and cease to watch him so pitilessly]; let him rest until he has accomplished as does a hireling the appointed time for his day. |
| 7 | For there is hope for a tree if it is cut down, that it will sprout again and that the tender shoots of it will not cease. [But there is no such hope for man.] |
| 8 | Though its roots grow old in the earth and its stock dies in the ground, |
| 9 | Yet through the scent [and breathing] of water [the stump of the tree] will bud and bring forth boughs like a young plant. |
| 10 | But [the brave, strong] man must die and lie prostrate; yes, man breathes his last, and where is he? |
| 11 | As waters evaporate from the lake, and the river drains and dries up, |
| 12 | So man lies down and does not rise [to his former state]. Till the heavens are no more, men will not awake nor be raised [physically] out of their sleep. |
| 13 | Oh, that You would hide me in Sheol (the unseen state), that You would conceal me until Your wrath is past, that You would set a definite time and then remember me earnestly [and imprint me on your heart]! |
| 14 | If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my warfare
and
service I will wait, till my change
and
release shall come. |
| 15 | [Then] You would call and I would answer You; You would yearn for [me] the work of Your hands. |
| 16 | But now You number each of my steps and take note of my every sin. |
| 17 | My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and You glue up my iniquity [to preserve it in full for the day of reckoning]. |
| 18 | But as a mountain, if it falls, crumbles to nothing, and as the rock is removed out of its place, |
| 19 | As waters wear away the stones and as floods wash away the soil of the earth, so You [O Lord] destroy the hope of man. |
| 20 | You prevail forever against him, and he passes on; You change his appearance [in death] and send him away [from the presence of the living]. |
| 21 | His sons come to honor, and he knows it not; they are brought low, and he perceives it not. |
| 22 | But his body [lamenting its decay in the grave] shall grieve over him, and his soul shall mourn [over the body of clay which it once enlivened]. |
Cross references:
-
Job 14:4 : Isa. 1:18; I John 1:7.
-
Job 14:14 : John 5:25; 6:40; I Thess. 4:16.
|