Add parallel Print Page Options

Job Continues His Prayer

Life Is Short and Sorrowful

14 (A) Life is short and sorrowful
    for every living soul.
We are flowers that fade
    and shadows that vanish.
And so, I ask you, God,
    why pick on me?
There's no way a human
    can be completely pure.
Our time on earth is brief;
the number of our days
    is already decided by you.
Why don't you leave us alone
and let us find some happiness
    while we toil and labor?

When a Tree Is Chopped Down

When a tree is chopped down,
there is always the hope
    that it will sprout again.
Its roots and stump may rot,
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.

14 “Mortals, born of woman,(A)
    are of few days(B) and full of trouble.(C)
They spring up like flowers(D) and wither away;(E)
    like fleeting shadows,(F) they do not endure.(G)
Do you fix your eye on them?(H)
    Will you bring them[a] before you for judgment?(I)
Who can bring what is pure(J) from the impure?(K)
    No one!(L)
A person’s days are determined;(M)
    you have decreed the number of his months(N)
    and have set limits he cannot exceed.(O)
So look away from him and let him alone,(P)
    till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.(Q)

“At least there is hope for a tree:(R)
    If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
    and its new shoots(S) will not fail.(T)
Its roots may grow old in the ground
    and its stump(U) die in the soil,
yet at the scent of water(V) it will bud
    and put forth shoots like a plant.(W)
10 But a man dies and is laid low;(X)
    he breathes his last and is no more.(Y)
11 As the water of a lake dries up
    or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,(Z)
12 so he lies down and does not rise;(AA)
    till the heavens are no more,(AB) people will not awake
    or be roused from their sleep.(AC)

13 “If only you would hide me in the grave(AD)
    and conceal me till your anger has passed!(AE)
If only you would set me a time
    and then remember(AF) me!(AG)
14 If someone dies, will they live again?
    All the days of my hard service(AH)
    I will wait for my renewal[b](AI) to come.
15 You will call and I will answer you;(AJ)
    you will long for the creature your hands have made.(AK)
16 Surely then you will count my steps(AL)
    but not keep track of my sin.(AM)
17 My offenses will be sealed(AN) up in a bag;(AO)
    you will cover over my sin.(AP)

18 “But as a mountain erodes and crumbles(AQ)
    and as a rock is moved from its place,(AR)
19 as water wears away stones
    and torrents(AS) wash away the soil,(AT)
    so you destroy a person’s hope.(AU)
20 You overpower them once for all, and they are gone;(AV)
    you change their countenance and send them away.(AW)
21 If their children are honored, they do not know it;
    if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.(AX)
22 They feel but the pain of their own bodies(AY)
    and mourn only for themselves.(AZ)

Footnotes

  1. Job 14:3 Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew me
  2. Job 14:14 Or release