• Job Speaks of the Finality of Death

  • 1 “Man, who is born of woman, Is short-lived and full of turmoil.
  • 2 “Like a flower he comes out and withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain.
  • 3 “You also open Your eyes on him And bring him into judgment with Yourself.
  • 4 “Who can make the clean out of the unclean? No one!
  • 5 “Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; And You have set his limits so that he cannot pass.
  • 6 “Look away from him so that he may rest, Until he fulfills his day like a hired worker.
  • 7 “For there is hope for a tree, When it is cut down, that it will sprout again, And its shoots will not fail.
  • 8 “Though its roots grow old in the ground, And its stump dies in the dry soil,
  • 9 At the scent of water it will flourish And produce sprigs like a plant.
  • 10 “But a man dies and lies prostrate. A person passes away, and where is he?
  • 11 “As water evaporates from the sea, And a river becomes parched and dried up,
  • 12 So a man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens no longer exist, He will not awake nor be woken from his sleep.
  • 13 “Oh that You would hide me in Sheol, That You would conceal me until Your wrath returns to You, That You would set a limit for me and remember me!
  • 14 “If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait Until my relief comes.
  • 15 “You will call, and I will answer You; You will long for the work of Your hands.
  • 16 “For now You number my steps, You do not observe my sin.
  • 17 “My wrongdoing is sealed up in a bag, And You cover over my guilt.
  • 18 “But the falling mountain crumbles away, And the rock moves from its place;
  • 19 Water wears away stones, Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth; So You destroy a man’s hope.
  • 20 “You forever overpower him and he departs; You change his appearance and send him away.
  • 21 “His sons achieve honor, but he does not know it; Or they become insignificant, and he does not perceive it.
  • 22 “However, his body pains him, And his soul mourns for himself.”