The Brevity of Life
14:1 Man, born of woman,1
lives but a few days,2
and full of trouble;3
14:2 he comes up4
like a flower and then withers away;5
he flees like a shadow, and does not remain.6
14:3 Do you open your eye7
on such a one?8
And do you bring me9
before you for judgment?
14:4 How can10
a clean thing come from an unclean?11
No one!
14:5 Since man’s days12
are determined,13
the number of his months is under your control;14
you have set his limit15
and he cannot pass it.
14:6 Look away from him and let him desist,16
until he fulfills17
his time like a hired man.
The Inevitability of Death
14:7 But there is hope for18
a tree:19
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its new shoots will not fail.
14:8 Although its roots may grow old20
in the ground
and its stump begins to die21
in the soil,22
14:9 at the scent23
of water it will flourish24and
put forth25
shoots like a new plant.
14:10 But man26
dies and is powerless;27
he expires—and where is he?28
14:11 As29
water disappears from the sea,30
or a river drains away and dries up,
14:12 so man lies down and does not rise,
until the heavens are no more31
they32
will not awake,
nor arise from their sleep.
The Possibility of Another Life
14:13 O that33
you would hide me in Sheol,34
and conceal me till your anger has passed!35
You would set me a time36
and then remember me!37
14:14 If a man dies, will he live again?38
All the days of my hard service39
I will wait40
until my release comes.41
14:15 You will call42
and I,43
I will answer you;
you will long for44
the creature you have made.
The Present Condition45
14:16 Surely now you count my steps,46
Then you would not mark47
my sin.48
14:17 My offenses would be sealed up49
in 50a
bag;
you would cover over51
my sin.
14:18 But as52
a mountain falls away and crumbles,53
and as a rock will be removed from its place
14:19 as water wears away stones,
and torrents54
wash away the soil,55
so you destroy man’s hope.56
14:20 You overpower him once for all,57
and he departs;
you change58
his appearance and send him away.
14:21 If59
his sons are honored,60
he does not know it;61
if they are brought low, he does not see62
it.
14:22 Only his flesh has pain for himself,63
and he mourns for himself.64