Job 14

1 “Man born of woman
is of few days and full of trouble.

2 He springs up like a flower and withers away;
like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.

3 Do you fix your eye on such a one?
Will you bring him before you for judgment?

4 Who can bring what is pure from the impure?
No one!

5 Man's days are determined;
you have decreed the number of his months
and have set limits he cannot exceed.

6 So look away from him and let him alone,
till he has put in his time like a hired man.

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.

8 Its roots may grow old in the ground
and its stump die in the soil,

9 yet at the scent of water it will bud
and put forth shoots like a plant.

10 But man dies and is laid low;
he breathes his last and is no more.

11 As water disappears from the sea
or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,

12 so man lies down and does not rise;
till the heavens are no more, men 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!

14 If a man dies, will he live again?
All the days of my hard service
I will wait for my renewal to come.

15 You will call and I will answer you;
you will long for the creature your hands have made.

16 Surely then you will count my steps
but not keep track of my sin.

17 My offenses 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,

19 as water wears away stones
and torrents wash away the soil,
so you destroy man's hope.

20 You overpower him once for all, and he is gone;
you change his countenance and send him away.

21 If his sons are honored, he does not know it;
if they are brought low, he does not see it.

22 He feels but the pain of his own body
and mourns only for himself.”

JOB 14

Job Continues His Prayer

Life Is Short //and Sorrowful

1  t Life is short and sorrowful
for every living soul.

2 We are flowers that fade
and shadows that vanish.

3 And so, I ask you, God,
why pick on me?

4 There's no way a human
can be completely pure.

5 Our time on earth is brief;
the number of our days
is already decided by you.

6 Why don't you leave us alone
and let us find some happiness
while we toil and labor?

When a Tree //Is Chopped Down

7 When a tree is chopped down,
there is always the hope
that it will sprout again.

8 Its roots and stump may rot,

9 but at the touch of water,
it sprouts once again.

10 Humans are different—
we die, and that's the end.

11 We are like streams and lakes
after the water has gone;

12 we fall into the sleep of death,
never to rise again,
until the sky disappears.

13 Please hide me, God,
deep in the ground—
and when you are angry no more,
remember to rescue me.

Will We Humans //Live Again?

14 Will we humans live again?
I would gladly suffer
and wait for my time.

15 My Creator, you would want me;
you would call out,
and I would answer.

16 You would take care of me,
but not count my sins—

17 you would put them in a bag,
tie it tight,
and toss them away.

18 But in the real world,
mountains tumble,
and rocks crumble;

19 streams wear away stones
and wash away soil.
And you destroy our hopes!

20 You change the way we look,
then send us away,
wiped out forever.

21 We never live to know
if our children are praised
or disgraced.

22 We feel no pain but our own,
and when we mourn,
it's only for ourselves.