Job 13:28-14:6

The Voice

²⁸ This is how a person wastes away to nothing,
like something rotten, like moth-eaten clothing.

14 Job: Humankind, born of woman,
        has a few brief years with much suffering.
²    Like a short-lived bloom,
        he springs up only to wither;
        like the brief shade gained by a fast-moving cloud,
        he passes swiftly.
³    Lord, is this why You turn Your gaze on such a creature:
        to bring me,^[a] a mere human being, alongside You for judgment?
⁴    Who can take what is impure and defiled
        to fashion something pure and pristine?
        No one! We are, after all, so different in nature.
⁵    Since a person’s life is fixed,
        and You are the One who determines the number of his months,
    And You set a limit on the length of her life,
        and since they are incapable of exceeding Your decree,
⁶    The least You can do is turn Your gaze away from him until they pass,
        so that he can enjoy his day like a hired worker.