1‘Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble.2They spring up like flowers and wither away; like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.3Do you fix your eye on them? Will you bring them[1] before you for judgment?4Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No-one!5A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.6So look away from him and let him alone, till he has put in his time like a hired labourer.7‘At least there is hope for a tree: if it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail.8Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil,9yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant.10But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more.11As the water of a lake dries up or a river bed becomes parched and dry,12so he lies down and does not rise; till the heavens are no more, people will not awake or be roused from their sleep.13‘If only you would hide me in the grave and conceal me till your anger has passed! If only you would set me a time and then remember me!14If someone dies, will they live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal[2] to come.15You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made.16Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin.17My offences will be sealed up in a bag; you will cover over my sin.18‘But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and as a rock is moved from its place,19as water wears away stones and torrents wash away the soil, so you destroy a person’s hope.20You overpower them once for all, and they are gone; you change their countenance and send them away.21If their children are honoured, they do not know it; if their children are brought low, they do not see it.22They feel but the pain of their own bodies and mourn only for themselves.’
Job 14
English Standard Version
Job Continues: Death Comes Soon to All
1“Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble. (Ge 47:9; Job 5:7; Job 10:20; Job 15:14; Job 16:22; Job 25:4; Ps 39:5; Ps 89:47; Mt 11:11)2He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not. (Job 8:9; Job 17:7; Ps 37:2; Ps 90:6; Ps 103:15; Ps 109:23; Isa 40:6; Jas 1:10; 1Pe 1:24)3And do you open your eyes on such a one and bring me into judgment with you? (Job 22:4; Ps 8:4; Ps 143:2; Ps 144:3)4Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one. (Job 15:14; Ps 51:5; Joh 3:6)5Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass, (Job 7:1; Job 21:21; Ps 39:4)6look away from him and leave him alone,[1] that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day. (Job 7:1; Job 7:19)7“For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease.8Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stump die in the soil, (Isa 11:1)9yet at the scent of water it will bud and put out branches like a young plant. (Job 29:19)10But a man dies and is laid low; man breathes his last, and where is he? (Job 29:7)11As waters fail from a lake and a river wastes away and dries up, (Isa 19:5)12so a man lies down and rises not again; till the heavens are no more he will not awake or be roused out of his sleep. (De 11:21; Ps 72:5; Ps 89:29; Mt 5:18; Joh 11:11)13Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath be past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me! (Job 21:13; Ps 27:5; Ps 31:20; Isa 26:20)14If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal[2] should come. (Job 7:1; Job 13:15)15You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands. (Job 10:3; Job 13:22)16For then you would number my steps; you would not keep watch over my sin; (Job 10:6; Job 31:4; Job 34:21)17my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity. (De 32:34; Ho 13:12)18“But the mountain falls and crumbles away, and the rock is removed from its place; (Job 18:4; Isa 34:4)19the waters wear away the stones; the torrents wash away the soil of the earth; so you destroy the hope of man.20You prevail forever against him, and he passes; you change his countenance, and send him away.21His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; they are brought low, and he perceives it not. (Ec 9:5)22He feels only the pain of his own body, and he mourns only for himself.”