Job 14:1–10

¹“Man, who is born of woman,

is short of days and full of trouble.

²Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away;

like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.

³Do You open Your eyes to one like this?

Will You bring him into judgment before You?

⁴Who can bring out clean from unclean?

No one!

⁵Since his days are determined

and the number of his months is with You,

and since You have set limits

that he cannot exceed,

⁶look away from him and let him rest,

so he can enjoy his day as a hired hand.

⁷For there is hope for a tree:

If it is cut down, it will sprout again,

and its tender shoots will not fail.

⁸If its roots grow old in the ground

and its stump dies in the soil,

⁹at the scent of water it will bud

and put forth twigs like a sapling.

¹⁰But a man dies and is laid low;

he breathes his last, and where is he?