Job 14
New Living Translation
14 “How frail is humanity!
How short is life, how full of trouble!
2 We blossom like a flower and then wither.
Like a passing shadow, we quickly disappear.
3 Must you keep an eye on such a frail creature
and demand an accounting from me?
4 Who can bring purity out of an impure person?
No one!
5 You have decided the length of our lives.
You know how many months we will live,
and we are not given a minute longer.
6 So leave us alone and let us rest!
We are like hired hands, so let us finish our work in peace.
7 “Even a tree has more hope!
If it is cut down, it will sprout again
and grow new branches.
8 Though its roots have grown old in the earth
and its stump decays,
9 at the scent of water it will bud
and sprout again like a new seedling.
10 “But when people die, their strength is gone.
They breathe their last, and then where are they?
11 As water evaporates from a lake
and a river disappears in drought,
12 people are laid to rest and do not rise again.
Until the heavens are no more, they will not wake up
nor be roused from their sleep.
13 “I wish you would hide me in the grave[a]
and forget me there until your anger has passed.
But mark your calendar to think of me again!
14 Can the dead live again?
If so, this would give me hope through all my years of struggle,
and I would eagerly await the release of death.
15 You would call and I would answer,
and you would yearn for me, your handiwork.
16 For then you would guard my steps,
instead of watching for my sins.
17 My sins would be sealed in a pouch,
and you would cover my guilt.
18 “But instead, as mountains fall and crumble
and as rocks fall from a cliff,
19 as water wears away the stones
and floods wash away the soil,
so you destroy people’s hope.
20 You always overpower them, and they pass from the scene.
You disfigure them in death and send them away.
21 They never know if their children grow up in honor
or sink to insignificance.
22 They suffer painfully;
their life is full of trouble.”
Footnotes
- 14:13 Hebrew in Sheol.
Job 14
Legacy Standard Bible
If a Man Dies, Will He Live Again?
14 “(A)Man, who is born of woman,
Is [a]short-lived and (B)full of turmoil.
2 (C)Like a flower he comes forth and withers.
He also flees like (D)a shadow and does not stand.
3 You also (E)open Your eyes on him
And (F)bring [b]me into judgment with Yourself.
4 (G)Who can make the clean out of the unclean?
No one!
5 Since his days are determined,
The (H)number of his months is with You;
And his limits You have [c]set so that he cannot pass.
6 (I)Turn Your gaze from him that he may cease from toil,
Until he accepts his day like a hired man.
7 “For there is hope for a tree,
When it is cut down, that it will change back sprouting again,
And its shoots will not cease.
8 Though its roots grow old in the ground
And its stump dies in the dry soil,
9 At the scent of water it will flourish
And put forth sprigs like a plant.
10 But (J)man dies and lies prostrate.
Man (K)breathes his last, and where is he?
11 As (L)water [d]evaporates from the sea,
And a river becomes parched and dried up,
12 So (M)man lies down and does not rise.
Until the heavens are no longer,
[e]He will not awake nor be aroused out of [f]his sleep.
13 “Oh that You would conceal me in Sheol,
That You would hide me (N)until Your anger returns to You,
That You would set a limit for me and remember me!
14 If a man dies, will he live again?
All the days of my labor I will wait
Until my change comes.
15 You will call, and I will answer You;
You will long for (O)the work of Your hands.
16 For now You (P)number my steps,
You do not (Q)keep watch over my sin.
17 My transgression is (R)sealed up in a bag,
And You [g]cover up my iniquity.
18 “But the falling mountain [h]crumbles away,
And the rock moves from its place;
19 Water wears away stones;
Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth;
So You (S)make man’s hope perish.
20 You forever overpower him and he (T)goes away;
You alter his appearance and send him away.
21 His sons achieve honor, but (U)he does not know it;
Or they become insignificant, but he does not perceive it.
22 But his flesh pains him,
And he mourns only for himself.”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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