Job 14
EasyEnglish Bible
Job continues to speak
14 Everyone that a woman gives birth to lives only for a short time.
The days of his life are full of trouble.
2 He is like a flower that grows
and then it soon dies.
His life quickly disappears like a shadow.
3 I am only a human like that,
so why do you watch me so carefully?
Why do you want to bring me into a court to judge me?
4 People are not clean and pure.
Nobody can change them to become pure.
5 You have decided how long people should live.
You control the number of months that each person will live.
Nobody can live any longer than that.
6 So do not watch us! Leave us alone!
We must work for the time that you have decided.
Please leave us to work in peace.
7 If someone cuts down a tree,
the tree may not die.
New branches may grow from it.
8 Its roots in the ground may be old.
The part of the tree that remains may be nearly dead.
9 But if only a little water comes near to it,
it will start to grow again.
It will make new branches,
like a young plant.
10 But when people lose their strength and they die,
that is the end.
After they die, where do they go?
11 When the water disappears from a lake or a river,
they become dry.
12 It is the same with people when they die.
They will never rise to live again.
As long as the sky remains above the earth,
they will continue to sleep in death.
13 Please hide me in the place where dead people go!
Hide me there until you are no longer angry.
Decide how long I must be there,
and then remember me again!
14 If a man dies, will he live again?
If I knew that, I would suffer patiently.
I would wait until my troubles have finished.
15 You would call me and I would answer you.
You would want to see me again,
because your own hands created me.
16 You would watch me carefully,
but you would not make a note of my sins.
17 You would forgive me for my sins.
You would hide them away.
18 But mountains fall down and they break into pieces,
Rocks fall down from their places.
19 Stones become sand when water pours over them.
Floods wash away soil.
In the same way, you remove hope from a person's life.
20 Finally, you bring his life to an end.
He leaves this world.
You change his face in death
and you send him away.
21 If his sons become famous,
he does not know about it.
If they become ashamed,
he does not know that either.
22 A dead person thinks only about himself.
He feels his own pain and he is very sad.’
Job 14
Expanded Bible
14 “·All of us [L Human beings; T Man] born ·to women [T of woman]
·live only a few [L are short of] days and ·have lots [full] of trouble.
2 ·We [L They] grow up like flowers and then ·dry up and die [L wither].
·We are like a passing [L …and flee like a] shadow that does not last.
3 Lord, do you need to watch me like this?
Must you bring me before you to be judged?
4 No one can bring something clean [C in a ritual sense] from something unclean.
5 ·Our [L If their] time is limited.
You have given ·us [L them] only so many months to live
and have set limits ·we [L they] cannot go beyond.
6 So look away from us and ·leave us alone [stop; desist]
until we put in our time like a laborer [C until death].
7 “If a tree is cut down,
there is hope that it will grow again
and will send out new ·branches [shoots].
8 Even if its roots grow old in the ground,
and its stump dies in the ·dirt [dust],
9 at the ·smell [scent] of water it will bud
and put out new ·shoots [boughs] like a plant.
10 But ·we [L mortals] die, and ·our bodies are laid in the ground [L dwindle away];
·we take our last breath [L humans expire] and are ·gone [L no more; C unlike trees, humans do not come back to life].
11 Water disappears from a ·lake [sea],
and a river ·loses its water and dries up [L dries up and withers away].
12 In the same way, ·we [L humans] lie down and do not rise again;
·we [L they] will not get up or be awakened
until the heavens disappear [C that is, never].
13 “I wish you would hide me in ·the grave [L Sheol; C the grave or the underworld];
·hide [conceal] me until your anger is gone.
I wish you would set a ·time [limit]
and then remember me!
14 Will the dead live again [C the implied answer is no]?
All my days are ·a struggle [L hard service];
I will wait until my ·change [L release] comes.
15 You ·will call [L would summon me], and I ·will [or would] answer you;
you ·will [or would] desire the ·creature your hands have made [L work of your hands].
16 ·Then [or Now] you ·will count [count] my steps [C meaning God would focus negatively on Job’s sin],
but you ·will [or would] not keep track of my sin [C in a hypothetical future].
17 My wrongs ·will [or would] be closed up in a bag,
and you ·will [or would] cover up my sin.
18 “A mountain ·washes [L falls] away and crumbles;
and a rock can be moved from its place.
19 Water ·washes over stones and wears them down [L grinds down the stones],
and ·rushing waters [or violent storms] wash away the ·dirt [dust].
In the same way, you destroy hope.
20 You ·defeat [overpower] people forever, and they are gone;
you change their appearance [C from joy to despair] and send them away.
21 Their children are honored, but they do not know it [C because they, the parents, are dead or dying];
their children are ·disgraced [lowered], but they [C the parents] do not see it.
22 They [C the parents] only feel the pain of their ·body [L flesh]
and ·feel sorry [mourn] for themselves.”
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