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 ¹ 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.”