13 “My eyes have seen all this,(A)
    my ears have heard and understood it.
What you know, I also know;
    I am not inferior to you.(B)
But I desire to speak to the Almighty(C)
    and to argue my case with God.(D)
You, however, smear me with lies;(E)
    you are worthless physicians,(F) all of you!(G)
If only you would be altogether silent!(H)
    For you, that would be wisdom.(I)
Hear now my argument;
    listen to the pleas of my lips.(J)
Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf?
    Will you speak deceitfully for him?(K)
Will you show him partiality?(L)
    Will you argue the case for God?
Would it turn out well if he examined you?(M)
    Could you deceive him as you might deceive a mortal?(N)
10 He would surely call you to account
    if you secretly showed partiality.(O)
11 Would not his splendor(P) terrify you?
    Would not the dread of him fall on you?(Q)
12 Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;
    your defenses are defenses of clay.(R)

13 “Keep silent(S) and let me speak;(T)
    then let come to me what may.(U)
14 Why do I put myself in jeopardy
    and take my life in my hands?(V)
15 Though he slay me, yet will I hope(W) in him;(X)
    I will surely[a] defend my ways to his face.(Y)
16 Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance,(Z)
    for no godless(AA) person would dare come before him!(AB)
17 Listen carefully to what I say;(AC)
    let my words ring in your ears.
18 Now that I have prepared my case,(AD)
    I know I will be vindicated.(AE)
19 Can anyone bring charges against me?(AF)
    If so, I will be silent(AG) and die.(AH)

20 “Only grant me these two things, God,
    and then I will not hide from you:
21 Withdraw your hand(AI) far from me,
    and stop frightening me with your terrors.(AJ)
22 Then summon me and I will answer,(AK)
    or let me speak, and you reply to me.(AL)
23 How many wrongs and sins have I committed?(AM)
    Show me my offense and my sin.(AN)
24 Why do you hide your face(AO)
    and consider me your enemy?(AP)
25 Will you torment(AQ) a windblown leaf?(AR)
    Will you chase(AS) after dry chaff?(AT)
26 For you write down bitter things against me
    and make me reap the sins of my youth.(AU)
27 You fasten my feet in shackles;(AV)
    you keep close watch on all my paths(AW)
    by putting marks on the soles of my feet.

28 “So man wastes away like something rotten,
    like a garment(AX) eaten by moths.(AY)

14 “Mortals, born of woman,(AZ)
    are of few days(BA) and full of trouble.(BB)
They spring up like flowers(BC) and wither away;(BD)
    like fleeting shadows,(BE) they do not endure.(BF)
Do you fix your eye on them?(BG)
    Will you bring them[b] before you for judgment?(BH)
Who can bring what is pure(BI) from the impure?(BJ)
    No one!(BK)
A person’s days are determined;(BL)
    you have decreed the number of his months(BM)
    and have set limits he cannot exceed.(BN)
So look away from him and let him alone,(BO)
    till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.(BP)

“At least there is hope for a tree:(BQ)
    If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
    and its new shoots(BR) will not fail.(BS)
Its roots may grow old in the ground
    and its stump(BT) die in the soil,
yet at the scent of water(BU) it will bud
    and put forth shoots like a plant.(BV)
10 But a man dies and is laid low;(BW)
    he breathes his last and is no more.(BX)
11 As the water of a lake dries up
    or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,(BY)
12 so he lies down and does not rise;(BZ)
    till the heavens are no more,(CA) people will not awake
    or be roused from their sleep.(CB)

13 “If only you would hide me in the grave(CC)
    and conceal me till your anger has passed!(CD)
If only you would set me a time
    and then remember(CE) me!(CF)
14 If someone dies, will they live again?
    All the days of my hard service(CG)
    I will wait for my renewal[c](CH) to come.
15 You will call and I will answer you;(CI)
    you will long for the creature your hands have made.(CJ)
16 Surely then you will count my steps(CK)
    but not keep track of my sin.(CL)
17 My offenses will be sealed(CM) up in a bag;(CN)
    you will cover over my sin.(CO)

18 “But as a mountain erodes and crumbles(CP)
    and as a rock is moved from its place,(CQ)
19 as water wears away stones
    and torrents(CR) wash away the soil,(CS)
    so you destroy a person’s hope.(CT)
20 You overpower them once for all, and they are gone;(CU)
    you change their countenance and send them away.(CV)
21 If their children are honored, they do not know it;
    if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.(CW)
22 They feel but the pain of their own bodies(CX)
    and mourn only for themselves.(CY)

Footnotes

  1. Job 13:15 Or He will surely slay me; I have no hope — / yet I will
  2. Job 14:3 Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew me
  3. Job 14:14 Or release

13 Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it.

What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you.

Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.

But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.

O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom.

Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips.

Will ye speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him?

Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God?

Is it good that he should search you out? or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock him?

10 He will surely reprove you, if ye do secretly accept persons.

11 Shall not his excellency make you afraid? and his dread fall upon you?

12 Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay.

13 Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will.

14 Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?

15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.

16 He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him.

17 Hear diligently my speech, and my declaration with your ears.

18 Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified.

19 Who is he that will plead with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost.

20 Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee.

21 Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid.

22 Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.

23 How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin.

24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy?

25 Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?

26 For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.

27 Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet.

28 And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.

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.