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14 “A mortal, born of woman, few of days and full of trouble,(A)
    comes up like a flower and withers,
    flees like a shadow and does not last.(B)
Do you fix your eyes on such a one?
    Do you bring me into judgment with you?(C)
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
    No one can.(D)
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,(E)
look away from them and desist,[a]
    that they may enjoy, like laborers, their days.(F)

“For there is hope for a tree,
    if it is cut down, that it will sprout again
    and that its shoots will not cease.
Though its root grows old in the earth
    and its stump dies in the ground,
yet at the scent of water it will bud
    and put forth branches like a young plant.(G)
10 But mortals die and are laid low;
    humans expire, and where are they?(H)
11 As waters fail from a lake
    and a river wastes away and dries up,(I)
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.(J)
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!(K)
14 If mortals die, will they live again?
    All the days of my service I would wait
    until my release should come.(L)

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Footnotes

  1. 14.6 Cn: Heb that they may desist

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