Job 14

New International Version

14 “Mortals, born of woman,^(A)
    are of few days^(B) and full of trouble.^(C)
2 They spring up like flowers^(D) and wither away;^(E)
    like fleeting shadows,^(F) they do not endure.^(G)
3 Do you fix your eye on them?^(H)
    Will you bring them^[a] before you for judgment?^(I)
4 Who can bring what is pure^(J) from the impure?^(K)
    No one!^(L)
5 A person’s days are determined;^(M)
    you have decreed the number of his months^(N)
    and have set limits he cannot exceed.^(O)
6 So look away from him and let him alone,^(P)
    till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.^(Q)

⁷ “At least there is hope for a tree:^(R)
    If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
    and its new shoots^(S) will not fail.^(T)
8 Its roots may grow old in the ground
    and its stump^(U) die in the soil,
⁹ yet at the scent of water^(V) it will bud
    and put forth shoots like a plant.^(W)
10 But a man dies and is laid low;^(X)
    he breathes his last and is no more.^(Y)
11 As the water of a lake dries up
    or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,^(Z)
12 so he lies down and does not rise;^(AA)
    till the heavens are no more,^(AB) people will not awake
    or be roused from their sleep.^(AC)

¹³ “If only you would hide me in the grave^(AD)
    and conceal me till your anger has passed!^(AE)
If only you would set me a time
    and then remember^(AF) me!^(AG)
14 If someone dies, will they live again?
    All the days of my hard service^(AH)
    I will wait for my renewal^[b](AI) to come.
¹⁵ You will call and I will answer you;^(AJ)
    you will long for the creature your hands have made.^(AK)
16 Surely then you will count my steps^(AL)
    but not keep track of my sin.^(AM)
17 My offenses will be sealed^(AN) up in a bag;^(AO)
    you will cover over my sin.^(AP)

¹⁸ “But as a mountain erodes and crumbles^(AQ)
    and as a rock is moved from its place,^(AR)
19 as water wears away stones
    and torrents^(AS) wash away the soil,^(AT)
    so you destroy a person’s hope.^(AU)
20 You overpower them once for all, and they are gone;^(AV)
    you change their countenance and send them away.^(AW)
21 If their children are honored, they do not know it;
    if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.^(AX)
22 They feel but the pain of their own bodies^(AY)
    and mourn only for themselves.^(AZ)”