14:1 “Man, born of woman, 1
lives but a few days, 2 and they are full of trouble. 3
14:2 He grows up 4 like a flower and then withers away; 5
he flees like a shadow, and does not remain. 6
14:3 Do you fix your eye 7 on such a one? 8
And do you bring me 9 before you for judgment?
14:4 Who can make 10 a clean thing come from an unclean? 11
No one!
14:5 Since man’s days 12 are determined, 13
the number of his months is under your control; 14
you have set his limit 15 and he cannot pass it.
14:6 Look away from him and let him desist, 16
until he fulfills 17 his time like a hired man.
14:7 “But there is hope for 18 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 old 20 in the ground
and its stump begins to die 21 in the soil, 22
14:9 at the scent 23 of water it will flourish 24
and put forth 25 shoots like a new plant.
14:10 But man 26 dies and is powerless; 27
he expires – and where is he? 28
14:11 As 29 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 more, 31
they 32 will not awake
nor arise from their sleep.
14:13 “O that 33 you would hide me in Sheol, 34
and conceal me till your anger has passed! 35
O that you would set me a time 36
and then remember me! 37
14:14 If a man dies, will he live again? 38
All the days of my hard service 39 I will wait 40
until my release comes. 41
14:15 You will call 42 and I 43 – I will answer you;
you will long for 44 the creature you have made. 45
14:16 “Surely now you count my steps; 47
then you would not mark 48 my sin. 49
14:17 My offenses would be sealed up 50 in a bag; 51
you would cover over 52 my sin.
14:18 But as 53 a mountain falls away and crumbles, 54
and as a rock will be removed from its place,
14:19 as water wears away stones,
and torrents 55 wash away the soil, 56
so you destroy man’s hope. 57
14:20 You overpower him once for all, 58
and he departs;
you change 59 his appearance
and send him away.
14:21 If 60 his sons are honored, 61
he does not know it; 62
if they are brought low,
he does not see 63 it.
14:22 Only his flesh has pain for himself, 64
and he mourns for himself.” 65