Job 13:20-14:22
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Job’s Despondent Prayer
20 “Only grant two things to me;
then I will not hide myself from your face:
21 withdraw your hand far from me,
and do not let dread of you terrify me.(A)
22 Then call, and I will answer;
or let me speak, and you reply to me.(B)
23 How many are my iniquities and my sins?
Make me know my transgression and my sin.(C)
24 Why do you hide your face
and count me as your enemy?(D)
25 Will you frighten a windblown leaf
and pursue dry chaff?(E)
26 For you write bitter things against me
and make me reap[a] the iniquities of my youth.(F)
27 You put my feet in the stocks
and watch all my paths;
you set a bound to the soles of my feet.
28 One wastes away like a rotten thing,
like a garment that is moth-eaten.(G)
14 “A mortal, born of woman, few of days and full of trouble,(H)
2 comes up like a flower and withers,
flees like a shadow and does not last.(I)
3 Do you fix your eyes on such a one?
Do you bring me into judgment with you?(J)
4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
No one can.(K)
5 Since their days are determined,
and the number of their months is known to you,
and you have appointed the bounds that they cannot pass,(L)
6 look away from them and desist,[b]
that they may enjoy, like laborers, their days.(M)
7 “For there is hope for a tree,
if it is cut down, that it will sprout again
and that its shoots will not cease.
8 Though its root grows old in the earth
and its stump dies in the ground,
9 yet at the scent of water it will bud
and put forth branches like a young plant.(N)
10 But mortals die and are laid low;
humans expire, and where are they?(O)
11 As waters fail from a lake
and a river wastes away and dries up,(P)
12 so mortals lie down and do not rise again;
until the heavens are no more, they will not awake
or be roused out of their sleep.(Q)
13 O that you would hide me in Sheol,
that you would conceal me until your wrath is past,
that you would appoint me a set time and remember me!(R)
14 If mortals die, will they live again?
All the days of my service I would wait
until my release should come.(S)
15 You would call, and I would answer you;
you would long for the work of your hands.
16 For then you would not[c] number my steps;
you would not keep watch over my sin;(T)
17 my transgression would be sealed up in a bag,
and you would cover over my iniquity.(U)
18 “But the mountain falls and crumbles away,
and the rock is removed from its place;(V)
19 the waters wear away the stones;
the torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
so you destroy the hope of mortals.
20 You prevail forever against them, and they pass away;
you change their countenance and send them away.(W)
21 Their children come to honor, and they do not know it;
they are brought low, and it goes unnoticed.(X)
22 They feel only the pain of their own bodies
and mourn only for themselves.”
Job 13:20-14:22
Common English Bible
20 Only don’t do two things to me,
then I won’t hide from your face.
21 Remove your hand far from me
and don’t terrify me with your anger.
22 Then call and I’ll answer,
or I’ll speak and you can reply.
23 How many are my offenses and sins?
Inform me about my rebellions and sins.
24 Why hide your face from me
and consider me your enemy?
25 Will you cause a wind-tossed leaf to tremble, or will you pursue dry straw?
26 You even write bitter things about me,
make me inherit my youthful indiscretions.
27 You tie up my feet and restrict all actions;
you stamp marks on the bottom of my feet.
Human destiny
28 Surely a person wastes away like refuse,
like clothing that a moth eats.
14 All of us[a] are born of women,
have few days, and are full of turmoil.
2 Like a flower, we[b] bloom, then wither,
flee like a shadow, and don’t last.
(3 Yes, you open your eyes on this one;
you bring me into trial against you.)
4 Who can make pure from impure?
Nobody.
5 If our days are fixed, the number of our months with you,
you set a statute and we can’t exceed it.
6 Look away from us that we may rest,
until we are satisfied like a worker at day’s end.
Trees versus humans
7 Indeed there is hope for a tree.
If it’s cut down and still sprouting
and its shoots don’t fail,
8 if its roots age in the ground
and its stump dies in the dust,
9 at the scent of water, it will bud
and produce sprouts like a plant.
10 But a human dies and lies there;
a person expires, and where is he?
11 Water vanishes from the sea;
a river dries up completely.
12 But a human lies down and doesn’t rise
until the heavens cease;
they don’t get up and awaken from sleep.
Momentary hope
13 I wish you would hide me in the underworld,[c]
conceal me until your anger passes,
set a time for me, and remember me.
14 If people die, will they live again?
All the days of my service I would wait
until my restoration took place.
15 You would call, and I would answer you;
you would long for your handiwork.
16 Though you now number my steps,
you would not keep a record of my sin.
17 My rebellion is sealed in a bag;
you would cover my sin.
God crushes hope
18 But an eroding mountain breaks up,
and rock is displaced.
19 Water wears away boulders;
floods carry away soil;
you destroy a people’s hope.
20 You overpower them relentlessly, and they die;
you change their appearance and send them away.
21 Their children achieve honor, and they don’t know it;
their children become insignificant, and they don’t see it.
22 They only feel the pain of their body,
and they mourn for themselves.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible