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力言人生是短暫且可悲

14 “婦人所生的日子短少,滿有攪擾;

他生長如花,又遭割下;

他飛去如影,並不停留。

這樣的人你還睜眼看他,

又把他帶到你跟前受審嗎?

誰能使潔淨出於污穢呢?

無人有此本事。

人的日子既然被限定,

他的月數亦在乎你,

你也定下他的界限,使他不能越過。

就求你轉眼不看他,使他得歇息(“使他得歇息”或譯:“不去管他”),

直等到他像雇工一樣享受他的日子。

樹木常有希望,

樹木若被砍下,也會再發芽,

嫩枝仍生長不息。

雖然樹根衰老在地裡,

樹幹也枯死在土中,

一有水氣,就會萌芽,

又生長枝條如新栽的樹一樣。

10 人死了,就化為烏有;

人一氣絕就不在了。

11 海洋中的水消失,

江河枯竭乾涸,

12 人也是這樣一躺下去,就不再起來,

直到天都沒有了還不醒過來,

也不能從睡眠中被喚醒。

13 但願你把我藏在陰間,

把我隱藏,直到你的怒氣過去;

願你為我定一個期限,好記念我。

14 人若死了,怎能再活呢?

我要在我一切勞苦的日子等待,

等到我得釋放的時候來到。

15 你一呼叫,我就回答你,

你必渴慕你手所作的。

16 但現在你數點我的腳步,

必不再鑒察我的罪過,

17 我的過犯被你封在囊中,

我的罪孽你以灰泥遮蓋了。

18 山崩下墜,

巖石挪開原處;

19 流水磨蝕石頭,

水的氾溢沖去地上的塵土,

你也這樣滅絕人的指望。

20 你永遠勝過人,人就去世,

你改變他的容貌,把他遣走。

21 他的兒女得尊榮,他並不曉得,

他們降為卑,他也不覺得,

22 只覺自己身上的痛苦,

為自己悲哀。”

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

14 Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.

He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

And doth thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?

Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.

Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;

Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.

For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.

Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;

Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.

10 But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?

11 As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:

12 So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.

13 O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!

14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

15 Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.

16 For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?

17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity.

18 And surely the mountains falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place.

19 The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man.

20 Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.

21 His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.

22 But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.