Job 14:1-22

The Brevity of Life

14:1 “Man, born of woman,

lives but a few days, and they are full of trouble.

14:2 He grows up like a flower and then withers away;

he flees like a shadow, and does not remain.

14:3 Do you fix your eye on such a one?

And do you bring me before you for judgment?

14:4 Who can make a clean thing come from an unclean?

No one!

14:5 Since man’s days are determined,

the number of his months is under your control;

you have set his limit and he cannot pass it.

14:6 Look away from him and let him desist,

until he fulfills his time like a hired man.

The Inevitability of Death

14:7 “But there is hope for a tree:

If it is cut down, it will sprout again,

and its new shoots will not fail.

14:8 Although its roots may grow old in the ground

and its stump begins to die in the soil,

14:9 at the scent of water it will flourish

and put forth shoots like a new plant.

14:10 But man dies and is powerless;

he expires – and where is he?

14:11 As water disappears from the sea,

or a river drains away and dries up,

14:12 so man lies down and does not rise;

until the heavens are no more,

they will not awake

nor arise from their sleep.

The Possibility of Another Life

14:13 “O that you would hide me in Sheol,

and conceal me till your anger has passed!

O that you would set me a time

and then remember me!

14:14 If a man dies, will he live again?

All the days of my hard service I will wait

until my release comes.

14:15 You will call and I – I will answer you;

you will long for the creature you have made.

The Present Condition

14:16 “Surely now you count my steps;

then you would not mark my sin.

14:17 My offenses would be sealed up in a bag;

you would cover over my sin.

14:18 But as a mountain falls away and crumbles,

and as a rock will be removed from its place,

14:19 as water wears away stones,

and torrents wash away the soil,

so you destroy man’s hope.

14:20 You overpower him once for all,

and he departs;

you change his appearance

and send him away.

14:21 If his sons are honored,

he does not know it;

if they are brought low,

he does not see it.

14:22 Only his flesh has pain for himself,

and he mourns for himself.”