Job 14:1-12

Christian Standard Bible

14 Anyone born of woman
is short of days and full of trouble.^(A)
2 He blossoms like a flower, then withers;^(B)
he flees like a shadow and does not last.
³ Do you really take notice of one like this?
Will you bring me into judgment against you?^[a](C)
4 Who can produce something pure from what is impure?
No one!
⁵ Since a person’s days are determined
and the number of his months depends on you,
and since you have set^[b] limits he cannot pass,^(D)
6 look away from him and let him rest
so that he can enjoy his day like a hired worker.^(E)

⁷ There is hope for a tree:
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its shoots will not die.
⁸ If its roots grow old in the ground
and its stump starts to die in the soil,
⁹ the scent of water makes it thrive
and produce twigs like a sapling.^(F)
10 But a person dies and fades away;
he breathes his last—where is he?
¹¹ As water disappears from a lake
and a river becomes parched and dry,
¹² so people lie down never to rise again.
They will not wake up until the heavens are no more;^(G)
they will not stir from their sleep.