Moff JOB Chapter 14

4 

[[Oh that among the impure might be found

one pure man; but there is not one!]]

5 

As thou hast fixed man’s days

and numbered his few months,

6 

take thine eye off him, let him have some peace,

until his labouring day be done.

7 

There is hope for a tree that is felled;

it may flourish yet again,

the shoots of it need not fail;

8 

though its root decays in the soil,

though its stump is dead in the ground,

9 

it may bud at the scent of water,

and put out boughs like a plant.

10 

But man dies and departs,

man breathes his last--and where is he?

11 

Like the water of a vanished lake,

like a dry, drained river,

12 

man lies down, never to arise,

never to waken, though the skies wear out,

never to stir out of his slumber.

13 

Would’st thou but hide me in the nether world,

concealing me until thy wrath is over,

and then remember me when it is time!

14 

If only man might die and live again,

I could endure my weary post until relief arrived;

15 

thou would’st call, and I would come,

when thou didst yearn for life that thou hadst made;

16 

thou would’st not keep account of all I do,

thou would’st not watch for nothing but my faults;

17 

my guilt would be sealed up and set aside,

thou would’st condone my sin.

18 

But alas! even mountains crumble,

rocks are swept aside,

19 

stones are worn out by water,

floods wash the soil away,

and thou destroyest all the hopes of man.

20 

Thou art too strong for him, he has to go;

thou alterest his face in death, and he departs.

21 

His sons are honoured, but he never knows;

his sons are shamed--he never feels it.

22 

But his kinsfolk grieve for him,

and for him his servants mourn.”