Job 14

Job Laments the Finality of Death

¹ “Man, who is born of woman,

is short of days and full of trouble.

² Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away;

like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.

³ Do You open Your eyes to one like this?

Will You bring him into judgment before You?

⁴ Who can bring out clean from unclean?

No one!

⁵ Since his days are determined

and the number of his months is with You,

and since You have set limits

that he cannot exceed,

⁶ look away from him and let him rest,

so he can enjoy his day as a hired hand.

⁷ For there is hope for a tree:

If it is cut down, it will sprout again,

and its tender shoots will not fail.

⁸ If its roots grow old in the ground

and its stump dies in the soil,

⁹ at the scent of water it will bud

and put forth twigs like a sapling.

¹⁰ But a man dies and is laid low;

he breathes his last, and where is he?

¹¹ As water disappears from the sea

and a river becomes parched and dry,

¹² so a man lies down

and does not rise.

Until the heavens are no more,

he will not be awakened or roused from sleep.

¹³ If only You would hide me in Sheol

and conceal me until Your anger has passed!

If only You would appoint a time for me

and then remember me!

¹⁴ When a man dies, will he live again?

All the days of my hard service I will wait,

until my renewal^a comes.

¹⁵ You will call, and I will answer;

You will desire the work of Your hands.

¹⁶ For then You would count my steps,

but would not keep track of my sin.

¹⁷ My transgression would be sealed in a bag,

and You would cover over my iniquity.

¹⁸ But as a mountain erodes and crumbles

and a rock is dislodged from its place,

¹⁹ as water wears away the stones

and torrents wash away the soil,

so You destroy a man’s hope.

²⁰ You forever overpower him, and he passes on;

You change his countenance and send him away.

²¹ If his sons receive honor, he does not know it;

if they are brought low, he is unaware.

²² He feels only the pain of his own body

and mourns only for himself.”