ChaplainMortal hope

Job 14

Job: A Tree Cut Down May Sprout Again — and a Man?

A Mortal Born of Woman

14:1“For a mortal born of woman is short-lived and full of wrath.

14:2Like a flower that blossomed, he fell away;
he fled like a shadow and will not remain.

14:3Did You not take account of this one also, and bring him into judgment before You?

14:4For who will be clean from filth? No one.

14:5Even if his life on earth is one day, his months are numbered with You;
You set a time, and he will certainly not go beyond it.

14:6Leave him alone so that he may be quiet and take pleasure in life like a hired worker.

14:7For a tree has hope: if it is cut down, it will blossom again, and its shoot will not fail.

14:8For even if its root grows old in earth and its trunk dies in rock,

14:9from the scent of water it will blossom and produce a harvest like a newly planted tree.

14:10But a man who has died is gone;
a mortal who has fallen is no more.

14:11For in time a sea diminishes, and a river, left desolate, dries up.

14:12But a person who lies down will certainly not rise until heaven is no longer stitched together;
they will not wake from their sleep.

14:13If only You had guarded me in Hades and hidden me until Your wrath ceased, and set a time for me at which You would remember me!

14:14For if a person dies, he will live, having completed the days of his life. I will wait until I come to be again.

14:15Then You will call, and I will answer You. Do not reject the works of Your hands.

14:16You numbered my practices, and not one of my sins will pass You by.

14:17You sealed my lawless deeds in a bag and marked whether I transgressed in anything unwillingly.

14:18And indeed, a falling mountain will fall apart, and a rock will grow worn away from its place.

14:19Waters wore stones smooth, and waters flooded the flat surface of the earth’s soil;
You destroyed a person’s endurance.

14:20You thrust him away completely, and he departed;
You set Your face against him and sent him out.

14:21When his sons become many, he does not know;
if they become few, he does not understand.

14:22Only his flesh felt pain, and his soul mourned.”

Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.