14 “Man that is born of a woman
    is of few days, and full of trouble.
² He comes forth like a flower, and withers;
    he flees like a shadow, and continues not.
³ And dost thou open thy eyes upon such a one
    and bring him^[a] into judgment with thee?
⁴ Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
    There is not one.
⁵ Since his days are determined,
    and the number of his months is with thee,
    and thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass,
⁶ look away from him, and desist,^[b]
    that he may enjoy, like a hireling, his day.

⁷ “For there is hope for a tree,
    if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,
    and that its shoots will not cease.
⁸ Though its root grow old in the earth,
    and its stump die in the ground,
⁹ yet at the scent of water it will bud
    and put forth branches like a young plant.
¹⁰ But man dies, and is laid low;
    man breathes his last, and where is he?
¹¹ As waters fail from a lake,
    and a river wastes away and dries up,
¹² so man lies down and rises not again;
    till the heavens are no more he will not awake,
    or be roused out of his sleep.
¹³ Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol,
    that thou wouldest conceal me until thy wrath be past,
    that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!
¹⁴ If a man die, shall he live again?
    All the days of my service I would wait,
    till my release should come.
¹⁵ Thou wouldest call, and I would answer thee;
    thou wouldest long for the work of thy hands.
¹⁶ For then thou wouldest number my steps,
    thou wouldest not keep watch over my sin;
¹⁷ my transgression would be sealed up in a bag,
    and thou wouldest cover over my iniquity.

¹⁸ “But the mountain falls and crumbles away,
    and the rock is removed from its place;
¹⁹ the waters wear away the stones;
    the torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
    so thou destroyest the hope of man.
²⁰ Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passes;
    thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.
²¹ His sons come to honor, and he does not know it;
    they are brought low, and he perceives it not.
²² He feels only the pain of his own body,
    and he mourns only for himself.”