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Chapter 14

Man born of woman
    is short-lived and full of trouble,[a](A)
Like a flower that springs up and fades,(B)
    swift as a shadow that does not abide.
Upon such a one will you set your eyes,
    bringing me into judgment before you?
Can anyone make the unclean clean?(C)
    No one can.
Since his days are determined—
    you know the number of his months;
    you have fixed the limit which he cannot pass—
Look away from him and let him be,
    while, like a hireling, he completes his day.
For a tree there is hope;
    if it is cut down, it will sprout again,
    its tender shoots will not cease.
Even though its root grow old in the earth
    and its stump die in the dust,
Yet at the first whiff of water it sprouts
    and puts forth branches like a young plant.
10 But when a man dies, all vigor leaves him;(D)
    when a mortal expires, where then is he?
11 As when the waters of a lake fail,
    or a stream shrivels and dries up,
12 So mortals lie down, never to rise.
    Until the heavens are no more, they shall not awake,
    nor be roused out of their sleep.(E)
13 Oh, that you would hide me in Sheol,
    shelter me till your wrath is past,
    fix a time to remember me!
14 If a man were to die, and live again,
    all the days of my drudgery I would wait(F)
    for my relief to come.

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Footnotes

  1. 14:1 The sorrowful lament of Job is that God should relent in view of the limited life of human beings. When compared to plant life, which dies but can revive, the death of human beings is final. Job’s wild and “unthinkable” wish in vv. 13–17 is a bold stroke of imagination and desire: if only in Sheol he were protected till God would remember him! Were he to live again (v. 14), things would be different, but alas, God destroys “the hope of mortals” (v. 19).

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.

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Footnotes

  1. Job 14:3 Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew me
  2. Job 14:14 Or release