Job 14

If a Man Dies, Will He Live Again?

1“Man, who is born of woman,
Is ▼

▼Lit short of days

short-lived and full of turmoil.
2“Like a flower he comes forth and withers.
He also flees like a shadow and does not stand.
3“You also open Your eyes on him
And bring ▼

▼Some ancient versions him

me into judgment with Yourself.
4“Who can make the clean out of the unclean?
No one!
5“Since his days are determined,
The number of his months is with You;
And his limits You have ▼

▼Lit made

set so that he cannot pass.
6“Turn Your gaze from him that he may cease from toil,
Until he accepts his day like a hired man.
7“For there is hope for a tree,
When it is cut down, that it will change back sprouting again,
And its shoots will not cease.
8“Though its roots grow old in the ground
And its stump dies in the dry soil,
9At the scent of water it will flourish
And put forth sprigs like a plant.
10“But man dies and lies prostrate.
Man breathes his last, and where is he?
11“As water ▼

▼Lit disappears

evaporates from the sea,
And a river becomes parched and dried up,
12So man lies down and does not rise.
Until the heavens are no longer,
▼

▼ Lit They

He will not awake nor be aroused out of ▼

▼Lit their

his sleep.
13“Oh that You would conceal me in Sheol,
That You would hide me until Your anger returns to You,
That You would set a limit for me and remember me!
14“If a man dies, will he live again?
All the days of my labor I will wait
Until my change comes.
15“You will call, and I will answer You;
You will long for the work of Your hands.
16“For now You number my steps,
You do not keep watch over my sin.
17“My transgression is sealed up in a bag,
And You ▼

▼Lit smear, cf. Job 13:14

cover up my iniquity.
18“But the falling mountain ▼

▼Lit withers

crumbles away,
And the rock moves from its place;
19Water wears away stones;
Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth;
So You make man’s hope perish.
20“You forever overpower him and he goes away;
You alter his appearance and send him away.
21“His sons achieve honor, but he does not know it;
Or they become insignificant, but he does not perceive it.
22“But his flesh pains him,
And he mourns only for himself.”