Job Continues to Argue His Case with God
14 “A human being born of a woman
is short of days and full of troubles.[a]
2 Like a flower he comes up, and he withers away;
and he flees like a[b] shadow, but[c] he does not last.
3 Even on such a one you fix your eyes,
and you bring me into judgment with you.
4 “Who can bring a clean thing from an unclean thing?
No one![d]
5 If his days are determined, the number of his months is with you;
you have appointed his boundaries, and he cannot cross them.
6 Look away from him, and let him desist
until he enjoys his days like a laborer.
7 “Indeed, there is hope for a tree:
if it is cut down, then[e] it will sprout again,
and its new shoots will not cease;
8 though its root grows old in the earth,
and its stump dies in the dust,
9 at[f] the scent of water it will bud,
and it will put forth branches like a young plant.
10 “But[g] a man dies, and he dwindles away;
thus[h] a human being passes away, and where is he?[i]
11 As water disappears from a lake,
and a river withers away and dries up,[j]
12 so[k] a man lies down, and he does not arise.
Until the heavens are no more,[l] they will not awaken,
and they will not be roused out of their sleep.
13 “O that[m] you would conceal me in Sheol,
that you would hide me until your wrath is past,[n]
that you would appoint a set time for me and remember me.
14 If a man dies, will he live again?
All the days of my compulsory service I will wait,
until the coming of my relief.
15 You would call, and I myself[o] would answer you;
you would long for the work of your hand.
16 For then[p] you would count my steps,
but you would not keep watch over my sin.
17 My transgression would be sealed in a bag,
and you would cover over my guilt.
18 “But[q] a mountain falls; it crumbles away,
and a rock moves away from its place.
19 Water wears away stones;
its torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
so[r] you destroy the hope of human beings.
20 You overpower him forever, and he passes away;
you change his countenance,[s] then[t] you send him away.
21 His children may come to honor, but[u] he does not know it;
or[v] they may become lowly, but[w] he does not realize it.[x]
22 He feels only the pain of his own body,[y]
and his inner self[z] mourns for him.”[aa]
Footnotes
- Job 14:1 Literally “trouble”
- Job 14:2 Or “the”
- Job 14:2 Hebrew “and”
- Job 14:4 Or “Not one”
- Job 14:7 Hebrew “and”
- Job 14:9 Hebrew “from”
- Job 14:10 Hebrew “And”
- Job 14:10 Hebrew “And”
- Job 14:10 Or “where is he then?”
- Job 14:11 Or “it dries up”
- Job 14:12 Literally “and”
- Job 14:12 Literally “Until not heavens”
- Job 14:13 Literally “Who shall give”
- Job 14:13 Literally “until the return of your nose”
- Job 14:15 Emphatic personal pronoun
- Job 14:16 Hebrew “now”
- Job 14:18 Or “And but”
- Job 14:19 Hebrew “and”
- Job 14:20 Literally “his faces”
- Job 14:20 Hebrew “and”
- Job 14:21 Hebrew “and”
- Job 14:21 Hebrew “and”
- Job 14:21 Hebrew “and”
- Job 14:21 Or “them”
- Job 14:22 Hebrew “his body on him”
- Job 14:22 Or “soul”
- Job 14:22 Or “for himself”