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Job 14
The Message
Job 14
The Message
If We Die, Will We Live Again?
14 1-17 “We’re all adrift in the same boat:
too few days, too many troubles.
We spring up like wildflowers in the desert and then wilt,
transient as the shadow of a cloud.
Do you occupy your time with such fragile wisps?
Why even bother hauling me into court?
There’s nothing much to us to start with;
how do you expect us to amount to anything?
Mortals have a limited life span.
You’ve already decided how long we’ll live—
you set the boundary and no one can cross it.
So why not give us a break? Ease up!
Even ditchdiggers get occasional days off.
For a tree there is always hope.
Chop it down and it still has a chance—
its roots can put out fresh sprouts.
Even if its roots are old and gnarled,
its stump long dormant,
At the first whiff of water it comes to life,
buds and grows like a sapling.
But men and women? They die and stay dead.
They breathe their last, and that’s it.
Like lakes and rivers that have dried up,
parched reminders of what once was,
So mortals lie down and never get up,
never wake up again—never.
Why don’t you just bury me alive,
get me out of the way until your anger cools?
But don’t leave me there!
Set a date when you’ll see me again.
If we humans die, will we live again? That’s my question.
All through these difficult days I keep hoping,
waiting for the final change—for resurrection!
Homesick with longing for the creature you made,
you’ll call—and I’ll answer!
You’ll watch over every step I take,
but you won’t keep track of my missteps.
My sins will be stuffed in a sack
and thrown into the sea—sunk in deep ocean.
18-22 “Meanwhile, mountains wear down
and boulders break up,
Stones wear smooth
and soil erodes,
as you relentlessly grind down our hope.
You’re too much for us.
As always, you get the last word.
We don’t like it and our faces show it,
but you send us off anyway.
If our children do well for themselves, we never know it;
if they do badly, we’re spared the hurt.
Body and soul, that’s it for us—
a lifetime of pain, a lifetime of sorrow.”
Job 14
New International Version
Job 14
New International Version
14 “Mortals, born of woman,(A)
are of few days(B) and full of trouble.(C)
2 They spring up like flowers(D) and wither away;(E)
like fleeting shadows,(F) they do not endure.(G)
3 Do you fix your eye on them?(H)
Will you bring them[a] before you for judgment?(I)
4 Who can bring what is pure(J) from the impure?(K)
No one!(L)
5 A person’s days are determined;(M)
you have decreed the number of his months(N)
and have set limits he cannot exceed.(O)
6 So look away from him and let him alone,(P)
till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.(Q)
7 “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)
8 Its roots may grow old in the ground
and its stump(U) die in the soil,
9 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)”
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.