Job Continues to Argue His Case with God

• 14 “A human being born of a woman
• is short of days and full of troubles.[fn]
• 2 Like a flower he comes up, and he withers away;
• and he flees like a[fn] shadow, but[fn] he does not last.
• 3 Even on such a one you fix your eyes,
• and you bring me into judgment with you.
• 4 “Who can bring a clean thing from an unclean thing?
• No one![fn]
• 5 If his days are determined, the number of his months is with you;
• you have appointed his boundaries, and he cannot cross them.
• 6 Look away from him, and let him desist
• until he enjoys his days like a laborer.
• 7 “Indeed, there is hope for a tree:
• if it is cut down, then[fn] it will sprout again,
• and its new shoots will not cease;
• 8 though its root grows old in the earth,
• and its stump dies in the dust,
• 9 at[fn] the scent of water it will bud,
• and it will put forth branches like a young plant.
• 10 “But[fn] a man dies, and he dwindles away;
• thus[fn] a human being passes away, and where is he?[fn]
• 11 As water disappears from a lake,
• and a river withers away and dries up,[fn]
• 12 so[fn] a man lies down, and he does not arise.
• Until the heavens are no more ,[fn] they will not awaken,
• and they will not be roused out of their sleep.
• 13 “ O that[fn] you would conceal me in Sheol,
• that you would hide me until your wrath is past ,[fn]
• that you would appoint a set time for me and remember me.
• 14 If a man dies, will he live again?
• All the days of my compulsory service I will wait,
• until the coming of my relief.
• 15 You would call, and I myself[fn] would answer you;
• you would long for the work of your hand.
• 16 For then[fn] you would count my steps,
• but you would not keep watch over my sin.
• 17 My transgression would be sealed in a bag,
• and you would cover over my guilt.
• 18 “But[fn] a mountain falls; it crumbles away,
• and a rock moves away from its place.
• 19 Water wears away stones;
• its torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
• so[fn] you destroy the hope of human beings.
• 20 You overpower him forever, and he passes away;
• you change his countenance ,[fn] then[fn] you send him away.
• 21 His children may come to honor, but[fn] he does not know it;
• or[fn] they may become lowly, but[fn] he does not realize it.[fn]
• 22 He feels only the pain of his own body,[fn]
• and his inner self[fn] mourns for him.”[fn]