Font Size
Job 14
Living Bible
Job 14
Living Bible
14 “How frail is man, how few his days, how full of trouble! 2 He blossoms for a moment like a flower—and withers; as the shadow of a passing cloud, he quickly disappears. 3 Must you be so harsh with frail men and demand an accounting from them? 4 How can you demand purity in one born impure? 5 You have set mankind so brief a span of life—months is all you give him! Not one bit longer may he live. 6 So give him a little rest, won’t you? Turn away your angry gaze and let him have a few moments of relief before he dies.
7 “For there is hope for a tree—if it’s cut down, it sprouts again and grows tender, new branches. 8-9 Though its roots have grown old in the earth, and its stump decays, it may sprout and bud again at the touch of water, like a new seedling. 10 But when a man dies and is buried, where does his spirit go? 11-12 As water evaporates from a lake, as a river disappears in drought, so a man lies down for the last time and does not rise again until the heavens are no more; he shall not awaken, nor be roused from his sleep. 13 Oh, that you would hide me with the dead and forget me there until your anger ends; but mark your calendar to think of me again!
14 “If a man dies, shall he live again? This thought gives me hope, so that in all my anguish I eagerly await sweet death! 15 You would call and I would come, and you would reward all I do. 16 But now, instead, you give me so few steps upon the stage of life and notice every mistake I make. 17 You bundle them all together as evidence against me.
18-19 “Mountains wear away and disappear. Water grinds the stones to sand. Torrents tear away the soil. So every hope of man is worn away. 20-21 Always you are against him, and then he passes off the scene. You make him old and wrinkled, then send him away. He never knows it if his sons are honored; or they may fail and face disaster, but he knows it not. 22 For him there is only sorrow and pain.”
Job 14
New International Version
Job 14
New International Version
14 “Mortals, born of woman,(A)
are of few days(B) and full of trouble.(C)
2 They spring up like flowers(D) and wither away;(E)
like fleeting shadows,(F) they do not endure.(G)
3 Do you fix your eye on them?(H)
Will you bring them[a] before you for judgment?(I)
4 Who can bring what is pure(J) from the impure?(K)
No one!(L)
5 A person’s days are determined;(M)
you have decreed the number of his months(N)
and have set limits he cannot exceed.(O)
6 So look away from him and let him alone,(P)
till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.(Q)
7 “At least there is hope for a tree:(R)
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its new shoots(S) will not fail.(T)
8 Its roots may grow old in the ground
and its stump(U) die in the soil,
9 yet at the scent of water(V) it will bud
and put forth shoots like a plant.(W)
10 But a man dies and is laid low;(X)
he breathes his last and is no more.(Y)
11 As the water of a lake dries up
or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,(Z)
12 so he lies down and does not rise;(AA)
till the heavens are no more,(AB) people will not awake
or be roused from their sleep.(AC)
13 “If only you would hide me in the grave(AD)
and conceal me till your anger has passed!(AE)
If only you would set me a time
and then remember(AF) me!(AG)
14 If someone dies, will they live again?
All the days of my hard service(AH)
I will wait for my renewal[b](AI) to come.
15 You will call and I will answer you;(AJ)
you will long for the creature your hands have made.(AK)
16 Surely then you will count my steps(AL)
but not keep track of my sin.(AM)
17 My offenses will be sealed(AN) up in a bag;(AO)
you will cover over my sin.(AP)
18 “But as a mountain erodes and crumbles(AQ)
and as a rock is moved from its place,(AR)
19 as water wears away stones
and torrents(AS) wash away the soil,(AT)
so you destroy a person’s hope.(AU)
20 You overpower them once for all, and they are gone;(AV)
you change their countenance and send them away.(AW)
21 If their children are honored, they do not know it;
if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.(AX)
22 They feel but the pain of their own bodies(AY)
and mourn only for themselves.(AZ)”
Living Bible (TLB)
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.