Job

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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

  1. Job 14:1 Literally “trouble”
  2. Job 14:2 Or “the”
  3. Job 14:2 Hebrew “and”
  4. Job 14:4 Or “Not one”
  5. Job 14:7 Hebrew “and”
  6. Job 14:9 Hebrew “from”
  7. Job 14:10 Hebrew “And”
  8. Job 14:10 Hebrew “And”
  9. Job 14:10 Or “where is he then?”
  10. Job 14:11 Or “it dries up”
  11. Job 14:12 Literally “and”
  12. Job 14:12 Literally “Until not heavens”
  13. Job 14:13 Literally “Who shall give”
  14. Job 14:13 Literally “until the return of your nose”
  15. Job 14:15 Emphatic personal pronoun
  16. Job 14:16 Hebrew “now”
  17. Job 14:18 Or “And but”
  18. Job 14:19 Hebrew “and”
  19. Job 14:20 Literally “his faces”
  20. Job 14:20 Hebrew “and”
  21. Job 14:21 Hebrew “and”
  22. Job 14:21 Hebrew “and”
  23. Job 14:21 Hebrew “and”
  24. Job 14:21 Or “them”
  25. Job 14:22 Hebrew “his body on him”
  26. Job 14:22 Or “soul”
  27. Job 14:22 Or “for himself”