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Job 14

1 For a mortal born of a woman is short-lived, and full of [1]wrath.

2 Or he falleth like a flower that hath bloomed;

and he departeth like a shadow, and cannot continue.

3 Hast thou not taken account even of him,

and caused him to enter into judgment before thee?

4 For who shall be pure from uncleanness? not even one;

5 if even his life should be but one day upon the earth:

and his months are numbered by him:

thou hast appointed him for a time, and he shall by no means exceed it.

6 Depart from him, that he may be quiet,

and take pleasure in his life, though as a hireling.

7 For there is hope for a tree,

even if it should be cut down, that it shall blossom again,

and its branch shall not fail.

8 For though its root should grow old in the earth,

and its stem die in the rock;

9 it will blossom from the scent of water,

and will produce a crop, as one newly planted.

10 But a man that hath died is utterly gone;

and when a mortal hath fallen, he is no more.

11 For the sea wasteth in length of time,

and a river faileth and is dried up.

12 And man that hath lain down in death shall certainly not rise again

till the heaven [2]be dissolved,

and they shall not awake from their sleep.

13 For O that thou hadst kept me in the grave,

and hadst hidden me until thy wrath should cease,

and thou shouldst set me a time in which thou wouldst remember me!

14 For if a man should die, shall he live again,

having accomplished the days of his life?

I will wait till I [3]exist again?

15 Then shalt thou call, and I will hearken to thee:

but do not thou reject the work of thy hands.

16 But thou hast numbered my devices: and not one of my sins shall escape thee?

17 And thou hast sealed up my transgressions in a [4]bag,

and marked if I have been guilty of any transgression unawares.

18 And verily a mountain falling will utterly be destroyed,

and a rock shall be worn out of its place.

19 The waters wear the stones,

and waters falling headlong overflow a heap of the earth:

and thou destroyest the [5]hope of man.

20 Thou drivest him to an end, and he is gone:

thou settest thy face against him, and sendest him away;

21 and though his children be multiplied, he knoweth it not;

and if they be few, he is not aware.

22 But his flesh is in pain,

and his soul mourneth.

Notes

  1. 14:1 wrath: or, vengeance, q.d. passively ↩
  2. 14:12 be dissolved: Gr. be not sewn together ↩
  3. 14:14 exist again: or, am made again ↩
  4. 14:17 bag: or, purse ↩
  5. 14:19 hope: or, patience, or, endurance ↩