Job 13:20-14:22

New American Standard Bible

²⁰“Only two things I ask that You do not do to me,
Then I will not hide from Your face:
²¹^(A)Remove Your ^[a]hand from me,
And may the dread of You not terrify me.
²²Then call and ^(B)I will answer;
Or let me speak, then reply to me.
²³^(C)How many are my guilty deeds and sins?
Make known to me my wrongdoing and my sin.
²⁴Why do You ^(D)hide Your face
And consider me ^(E)Your enemy?
²⁵Will You scare away a ^(F)scattered leaf?
Or will You pursue the dry ^(G)chaff?
²⁶For You write ^(H)bitter things against me
And ^(I)make me inherit the guilty deeds of my youth.
²⁷You ^(J)put my feet in the stocks
And watch all my paths;
You ^[b]set a limit for the soles of my feet,
²⁸While ^[c]I am decaying like a ^(K)rotten thing,
Like a garment that is moth-eaten.

Job Speaks of the Finality of Death

14 “^(L)Man, who is born of woman,
Is ^[d]short-lived and ^(M)full of turmoil.
²^(N)Like a flower he comes out and withers.
He also flees like ^(O)a shadow and does not remain.
³You also ^(P)open Your eyes on him
And ^(Q)bring ^[e]him into judgment with Yourself.
⁴^(R)Who can make the clean out of the unclean?
No one!
⁵Since his days are determined,
The ^(S)number of his months is with You;
And You have ^[f]set his limits so that he cannot pass.
⁶^(T)Look away from him so that he may ^[g]rest,
Until he ^[h]fulfills his day like a hired worker.

⁷“For there is hope for a tree,
When it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
And its shoots will not ^[i]fail.
⁸Though its roots grow old in the ground,
And its stump dies in the dry soil,
⁹At the scent of water it will flourish
And produce sprigs like a plant.
¹⁰But ^(U)a man dies and lies prostrate.
A person ^(V)passes away, and where is he?
¹¹As ^(W)water ^[j]evaporates from the sea,
And a river becomes parched and dried up,
¹²So ^(X)a man lies down and does not rise.
Until the heavens no longer exist,
^[k]He will not awake nor be woken from ^[l]his sleep.

¹³“Oh that You would hide me in ^[m]Sheol,
That You would conceal me ^(Y)until Your wrath returns to You,
That You would set a limit for me and remember me!
¹⁴If a man dies, will he live again?
All the days of my struggle I will wait
Until my relief comes.
¹⁵You will call, and I will answer You;
You will long for ^(Z)the work of Your hands.
¹⁶For now You ^(AA)number my steps,
You do not ^(AB)observe my sin.
¹⁷My wrongdoing is ^(AC)sealed up in a bag,
And You cover over my ^[n]guilt.

¹⁸“But the falling mountain ^[o]crumbles away,
And the rock moves from its place;
¹⁹Water wears away stones,
Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth;
So You ^(AD)destroy a man’s hope.
²⁰You forever overpower him and he ^(AE)departs;
You change his appearance and send him away.
²¹His sons achieve honor, but ^(AF)he does not know it;
Or they become insignificant, and he does not perceive it.
²²However, his ^[p]body pains him,
And his soul mourns for himself.”