JobChapter 14

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¹"A man born from a woman
lives only a few days, and they are full of trouble. ²He springs up like a flower, then dries up.
He is like a shadow that passes by.
He doesn't last. ³Do you keep your eyes on someone like this?
Will you bring him to be judged by you? ⁴Who can bring something clean out of something unclean?
No one! ⁵His days are already decided.
You know the number of his months.
You have set limits he can't go past. ⁶So look away from him and let him rest.
Then he can enjoy his day like a hired worker. ⁷There is hope for a tree.
If it is cut down, it will sprout again.
Its new shoots will keep coming. ⁸Even if its roots grow old in the ground,
and its stump dies in the dirt, ⁹at the smell of water it will bud.
It will put out twigs like a young plant. ¹⁰But a man dies and is laid low.
He breathes his last breath, and where is he? ¹¹Water disappears from a lake.
A river dries up and is gone. ¹²In the same way, a man lies down and doesn't get up.
Until the heavens are gone, he won't wake up.
No one will rouse him from his sleep. ¹³If only you would hide me in the grave!
If only you would keep me hidden there until your anger is over!
If only you would set a time for me and then remember me!a ¹⁴When a man dies, will he live again?
I will wait all the days of my hard service
until my renewal comes. ¹⁵You will call, and I will answer.
You will long for the one your hands made. ¹⁶Then you would count my steps.
But you would not keep track of my sin. ¹⁷My wrongs would be sealed up in a bag.
You would cover over my sin. ¹⁸But a mountain wears away and crumbles.
A rock is moved from its place. ¹⁹Water wears away the stones.
Floods wash away the soil.
In the same way, you destroy a man's hope. ²⁰You overpower him forever, and he passes away.
You change how his face looks and send him away. ²¹If his sons are honored, he doesn't know it.
If they are brought low, he doesn't see it. ²²He feels only the pain of his own body.
He mourns only for himself."