Job 14
Complete Jewish Bible
14 “A human being, born from a woman,
lives a short, trouble-filled life.
2 He comes up like a flower and withers away,
flees like a shadow, doesn’t last.
3 You fix your eyes on a creature like this?
You drag him to court with you?
4 Who can bring what is pure from something impure?
No one!
5 Since his days are fixed in advance,
the number of his months is known to you,
and you have fixed the limits which he can’t cross;
6 look away from him, and let him be;
so that, like a hired worker,
he can finish his day in peace.
7 “For a tree, there is hope
that if cut down, it will sprout again,
that its shoots will continue to grow.
8 Even if its roots grow old in the earth
and its stump dies in the ground,
9 yet at the scent of water it will bud
and put forth branches like a young plant.
10 But when a human being grows weak and dies,
he expires; and then where is he?
11 Just as water in a lake disappears,
as a river shrinks and dries up;
12 so a person lies down and doesn’t arise —
until the sky no longer exists;
it will not awaken,
it won’t be roused from its sleep.
13 “I wish you would hide me in Sh’ol,
conceal me until your anger has passed,
then fix a time and remember me!
14 If a man dies, will he live again?
I will wait all the days of my life
for my change to come.
15 You will call, and I will answer you;
you will long to see what you made again.
16 Whereas now you count each step of mine,
then you will not keep watch for my sin.
17 You will seal up my crime in a bag
and cover over my iniquity.
18 “Just as a mountain erodes and falls away,
its rock is removed from its place,
19 the water wears away its stones,
and the floods wash away its soil,
so you destroy a person’s hope.
20 You overpower him, and he passes on;
you change his appearance and send him away.
21 His children earn honor, but he doesn’t know it;
or they are brought low, but he doesn’t notice.
22 He feels pain only for his own flesh;
he laments only for himself.”
Job 14
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 14
1 Man born of woman
is short-lived and full of trouble,[a](A)
2 Like a flower that springs up and fades,(B)
swift as a shadow that does not abide.
3 Upon such a one will you set your eyes,
bringing me into judgment before you?
4 Can anyone make the unclean clean?(C)
No one can.
5 Since his days are determined—
you know the number of his months;
you have fixed the limit which he cannot pass—
6 Look away from him and let him be,
while, like a hireling, he completes his day.
7 For a tree there is hope;
if it is cut down, it will sprout again,
its tender shoots will not cease.
8 Even though its root grow old in the earth
and its stump die in the dust,
9 Yet at the first whiff of water it sprouts
and puts forth branches like a young plant.
10 But when a man dies, all vigor leaves him;(D)
when a mortal expires, where then is he?
11 As when the waters of a lake fail,
or a stream shrivels and dries up,
12 So mortals lie down, never to rise.
Until the heavens are no more, they shall not awake,
nor be roused out of their sleep.(E)
13 Oh, that you would hide me in Sheol,
shelter me till your wrath is past,
fix a time to remember me!
14 If a man were to die, and live again,
all the days of my drudgery I would wait(F)
for my relief to come.
15 You would call, and I would answer you;
you would long for the work of your hands.
16 Surely then you would count my steps,(G)
and not keep watch for sin in me.
17 My misdeeds would be sealed up in a pouch,[b]
and you would cover over my guilt.
18 Mountains fall and crumble,
rocks move from their place,
19 And water wears away stone,
and floods wash away the soil of the land—
so you destroy the hope of mortals!
20 You prevail once for all against them and they pass on;
you dismiss them with changed appearance.
21 If their children are honored, they are not aware of it;
or if disgraced, they do not know about them.
22 Only for themselves, their pain;
only for themselves, their mourning.
Footnotes
- 14:1 The sorrowful lament of Job is that God should relent in view of the limited life of human beings. When compared to plant life, which dies but can revive, the death of human beings is final. Job’s wild and “unthinkable” wish in vv. 13–17 is a bold stroke of imagination and desire: if only in Sheol he were protected till God would remember him! Were he to live again (v. 14), things would be different, but alas, God destroys “the hope of mortals” (v. 19).
- 14:17 Sealed up in a pouch: hidden away and forgotten.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.