Job 14

₁‘All of us are born from a woman,

we don't live for long

and we have trouble.

₂We are like a flower that opens,

and that becomes dry and dies.

We are like a shadow that goes past

and doesn't stay.

₃Lord, You are looking at a weak man.

Why do You want to take me to court?

₄If someone is impure,

no one can change him and make him pure.

₅Our time to live here on earth is short,

and only You know how long we will live.

You have decided how long we will live

and we will not live longer than that.

₆Please look away from us

and leave us alone.

We want to finish our work

like a worker who has finished his work

and can rest happily afterwards.

₇If someone has cut down a tree,

one can hope that the tree

will grow again and not die.

₈Its roots in the ground become old

and the tree-trunk becomes dry

and almost dies,

₉but if the roots get water,

the tree grows again,

and it gets new branches,

leaves and flower-buds.

₁₀But we become old

and weak and we die.

Our bodies are buried in the ground

and we are gone.

₁₁Water disappears from dams

and rivers become dry.

₁₂That is how people die.

We don't get up and live again,

and no one wakes us up

until heaven disappears.

₁₃I wish that You would hide me

in the underworld and keep me there

until You are not angry with me anymore.

I wish that You would decide

how long I must stay there

and that You would think of me again.

₁₄But, can someone live again

after he has died?

If this could happen, then I would wait

until it went well with me again,

and I would keep on waiting

while I suffered in this_life.

₁₅Then You would call me

and I would answer You.

You would be happy to see me again.

You are the One who has made me.

₁₆Yes, You would look at my life

but You would not remember my sins.

₁₇You would forget what I had done wrong,

and You would cover up all my sins.

₁₈Just like mountains fall away

and rocks break into pieces,

₁₉like water flows over rocks

and washes away the ground,

just like that You take away

the things that we hope for.

₂₀You take us away and we are gone forever,

and when we are dead,

we do not look the same anymore.

You send us away.

₂₁Then people will respect our children,

but we will not know that.

They can make our children suffer,

but we will not see it.

₂₂We will not feel their pain.

We will feel only our own pain.

We will not cry and mourn for them.

We will mourn only for ourselves.’