Job 14

CLV(i) 1 A human, born of a woman, Is short of days and surfeited with disturbance. 2 He comes forth like a blossom and is snipped off; He races away like a shadow and does not stand. 3 Indeed, it is on one like this that You focus Your eyes, And You bring me into judgment before You. 4 Who can bring what is clean from the unclean? No one. 5 Since his days are decided, The number of his months are set by You, And You have made his statutory time, Which he cannot surpass, 6 Be heedless of him, and forbear, Until, like a hireling, he may fill in his days. 7 For there is expectation for a tree:If it is cut down, then it may rejuvenate again, And its young shoots may not be halted. 8 If its roots grow old in the earth, And its trunk-base seems to die in the soil, 9 At the scent of water it shall bud, And it produces harvest branches like a plant. 10 Yet a master shall die and be laid defeated; A human shall expire, and where is he? 11 As waters depart from the sea, And a stream is drained and dries up, 12 So a man lies down and shall not rise; Until the heavens fail, they shall not awake, Nor shall they rouse from their sleep. 13 O that You would seclude me in the unseen, That You would conceal me until Your anger turns back, That You would set a statutory time for me and then remember me. 14 If a master dies shall he live again? All the days of my enlistment I shall wait Until my relief comes. 15 You shall call, and I shall answer You; You shall long for the work of Your hands. 16 Even if You are now numbering my steps, You shall then no longer observe my sin, 17 My transgression shall be sealed up in a pouch, And You shall cover over my depravity. 18 Howbeit, even the mountain falls and decays, And the rock shifts from its place. 19 Water reduces stones to powder; The flattening rain overflows the soil of the earth; So do You cause the expectation of a mortal to perish. 20 You overpower him permanently, and he goes away; His face alters, and You send him afar. 21 His sons may attain glory, yet he does not know it; Or they may be discredited, yet he shall not understand it of them. 22 Yea, his flesh shall be in pain over himself, And his soul shall mourn over his state.