JOB 14 “Man who is  k born of a woman

is  l few of days and  m full of trouble.

2 He comes out like  n a flower and  o withers;

he flees like  p a shadow and continues not.

3 And do you  q open your eyes on such a one

and  r bring me into judgment with you?

4[†] Who can bring  s a clean thing out of an unclean?

There is not one.

5 Since his  t days are determined,

and  u the number of his months is with you,

and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,

6  v look away from him and leave him alone, [1]

that he may enjoy, like  w a hired hand, 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  x its stump die in the soil,

9 yet at the scent of water it will bud

and put out  y branches like a young plant.

10[†] But a man dies and is laid low;

man breathes his last, and  z where is he?

11  a As waters fail from a lake

and a river wastes away and dries up,

12 so a man lies down and rises not again;

till  b the heavens are no more he will not awake

or be  c roused out of his sleep.

13 Oh that you would  d hide me in  e Sheol,

that you would  d conceal me  f until your wrath be past,

that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

14[^] If a man dies, shall he live again?

All the days of my  g service I would  h wait,

till my renewal [2] should come.

15[†] You would  i call, and I would answer you;

you would long for the  j work of your hands.

16 For then you would  k number my steps;

you would not keep  l watch over my sin;

17[^] my transgression would be  m sealed up in a bag,

and you would cover over my iniquity.

18 “But the mountain falls and  n crumbles away,

and  o the rock is removed from its place;

19[†] the waters wear away the stones;

the torrents wash away the soil of the earth;

so you destroy the hope of man.

20 You prevail forever against him, and he passes;

you change his countenance, and send him away.

21 His sons come to honor, and he  p 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.”