Job 14
World English Bible
14 “Man, who is born of a woman,
is of few days, and full of trouble.
2 He grows up like a flower, and is cut down.
He also flees like a shadow, and doesn’t continue.
3 Do you open your eyes on such a one,
and bring me into judgment with you?
4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
Not one.
5 Seeing his days are determined,
the number of his months is with you,
and you have appointed his bounds that he can’t pass.
6 Look away from him, that he may rest,
until he accomplishes, as a hireling, his day.
7 “For there is hope for a tree if it is cut down,
that it will sprout again,
that the tender branch of it will not cease.
8 Though its root grows old in the earth,
and its stock dies in the ground,
9 yet through the scent of water it will bud,
and sprout boughs like a plant.
10 But man dies, and is laid low.
Yes, man gives up the spirit, and where is he?
11 As the waters fail from the sea,
and the river wastes and dries up,
12 so man lies down and doesn’t rise.
Until the heavens are no more, they will not awake,
nor be roused out of their sleep.
13 “Oh that you would hide me in Sheol,[a]
that you would keep me secret until your wrath is past,
that you would appoint me a set time and remember me!
14 If a man dies, will he live again?
I would wait all the days of my warfare,
until my release should come.
15 You would call, and I would answer you.
You would have a desire for the work of your hands.
16 But now you count my steps.
Don’t you watch over my sin?
17 My disobedience is sealed up in a bag.
You fasten up my iniquity.
18 “But the mountain falling comes to nothing.
The rock is removed out of its place.
19 The waters wear the stones.
The torrents of it wash away the dust of the earth.
So you destroy the hope of man.
20 You forever prevail against him, and he departs.
You change his face, and send him away.
21 His sons come to honor, and he doesn’t know it.
They are brought low, but he doesn’t perceive it of them.
22 But his flesh on him has pain,
and his soul within him mourns.”
Footnotes
- 14:13 Sheol is the place of the dead.
Job 14
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 14
Everyone Born of Woman . . .[a]
1 “Everyone born of woman
has life that is short and filled with troubles.
2 He blossoms like a flower and soon begins to wither;
as fleeting as a shadow, he does not endure.
3 Is it upon a creature like this that you fix your gaze
and bring him before you to be judged?
4 “Can a man be found who has avoided defilement?
There is no such person.
5 The extent of his life has already been determined,
and the number of his months is known to you;
you have established the limits that he cannot pass.
6 Turn your gaze away from him and leave him alone
so that, like a hired laborer, he may complete his days.
7 “At least for a tree there is always hope:
if it is cut down, it may sprout once again,
and its new shoots may burst with life.
8 Although its roots age in the earth
and its stump dies in the ground,
9 once it scents water it will begin to bud
and put forth branches like a sapling.
10 “But when a man dies, he remains lifeless;
what is his fate once he expires?
11 As occurs when the waters of a lake recede
or a river ceases to flow and runs dry,
12 so men lie down and never rise again;
until the heavens cease to exist, they will not awaken
or be stirred out of their slumber.
Hide Me in the Netherworld[b]
13 “How I wish you would hide me in the netherworld
and shelter me until your wrath has subsided
while designating a time to call me to mind.
14 If one who dies were permitted to live once again,
I would willingly endure all the days of my service
waiting for my relief to arrive.
15 You would call and I would answer you;
you would long to see once again the creature you have made.
16 You would count my every step
but not watch for any evidence of sin in me.
17 You would store up all my transgressions in a bag,
and you would cover over my guilt.
18 “But as a mountain eventually falls
and a rock is removed from its place,
19 as the waters wear away the stones
and cloudbursts wash away the soil,
so you destroy the hope of man.
20 You crush him once for all and he disappears;
you alter his appearance and send him away.
21 If his sons are honored, he is unaware of it;
if they are disgraced, he does not know it.
22 He is cognizant only of the pains his flesh endures,
and he grieves for no one except himself.”
Footnotes
- Job 14:1 Thoroughly unclean, humans cannot attain true purity, i.e., moral perfection. This wretchedness is precisely their excuse before God. And if the universe can be shaken and then renewed, for humans there is no revival; they remain buried in death forever. Survival in the subterranean netherworld is nothing more than a diminished existence. Human beings thus hasten toward their end without hope. What reason is there for God to pursue them?
- Job 14:13 An astounding proposition is put forth: Job desires to descend to the netherworld as in a provisional hiding place or refuge (Ps 139:7-12; Isa 26:20) to escape the divine wrath and wait there for the Lord to remember the creature [he has] made and grant him forgiveness. Job dreams of immortality and suffers because he no longer enjoys the friendship of his God.
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