14:1 "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. |
14:2 He comes forth like a flower, and withers; he flees like a shadow, and continues not. |
14:3 And dost thou open thy eyes upon such a one and bring him into judgment with thee? |
14:4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one. |
14:5 Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with thee, and thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass, |
14:6 look away from him, and desist, that he may enjoy, like a hireling, his day. |
14:7 "For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease. |
14:8 Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stump die in the ground, |
14:9 yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth branches like a young plant. |
14:10 But man dies, and is laid low; man breathes his last, and where is he? |
14:11 As waters fail from a lake, and a river wastes away and dries up, |
14:12 so man lies down and rises not again; till the heavens are no more he will not awake, or be roused out of his sleep. |
14:13 Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol, that thou wouldest conceal me until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! |
14:14 If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my release should come. |
14:15 Thou wouldest call, and I would answer thee; thou wouldest long for the work of thy hands. |
14:16 For then thou wouldest number my steps, thou wouldest not keep watch over my sin; |
14:17 my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and thou wouldest cover over my iniquity. |
14:18 "But the mountain falls and crumbles away, and the rock is removed from its place; |
14:19 the waters wear away the stones; the torrents wash away the soil of the earth; so thou destroyest the hope of man. |
14:20 Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passes; thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away. |
14:21 His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; they are brought low, and he perceives it not. |
14:22 He feels only the pain of his own body, and he mourns only for himself." |