Job 14

⁷Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.

⁴How then can a man be just before God? How can one born of woman be pure?

²³Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.

¹“Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?

¹¹Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

⁶My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.

⁶A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field.

⁷The grass withers and the flowers fall when the breath of the Lord blows on them; indeed, the people are grass.

²⁴For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,

⁹For we were born yesterday and know nothing; our days on earth are but a shadow.

¹⁵As for man, his days are like grass—he blooms like a flower of the field;

¹⁶when the wind passes over, it vanishes, and its place remembers it no more.

¹⁵For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.

¹⁴You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

³O Lord, what is man, that You regard him, the son of man that You think of him?

²Do not bring Your servant into judgment, for no one alive is righteous before You.

⁴what is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him?

²⁷You put my feet in the stocks and stand watch over all my paths; You set a limit for the soles of my feet.

²⁵Would You frighten a windblown leaf? Would You chase after dry chaff?

¹⁷What is man that You should exalt him, that You should set Your heart upon him,

¹⁸that You attend to him every morning, and test him every moment?

⁶Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit.

¹⁴What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?

³All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.

⁸Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God.

⁹You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

⁴How then can a man be just before God? How can one born of woman be pure?

⁵If even the moon does not shine, and the stars are not pure in His sight,

⁵Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

⁴“Show me, O Lord, my end and the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is.

²⁶From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.

¹⁰The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.

²⁷Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,

²⁹When You hide Your face, they are terrified; when You take away their breath, they die and return to dust.

²⁶And this is the interpretation of the message: MENE means that God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.

¹⁹Will You never look away from me, or leave me alone to swallow my spittle?

¹³Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may again be cheered before I depart and am no more.”

¹“Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?

²Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hireling he waits for his wages.

²⁰Are my days not few? Withdraw from me, that I may have a little comfort,

¹⁶I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.

¹“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.

²He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

⁶In the days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will bud and blossom and fill the whole world with fruit.

¹Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.

¹⁴When a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, until my renewal comes.

²³And you, O king, saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying: ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump with its roots in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and graze with the beasts of the field till seven times pass him by.’

²⁴This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree that the Most High has issued against my lord the king:

¹⁰He tears me down on every side until I am gone; He uproots my hope like a tree.

¹⁵But leave the stump with its roots in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven and graze with the beasts on the grass of the earth.

³⁶You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

²⁴Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.

¹⁹Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.

¹⁷Now if some branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root,

¹⁸do not boast over those branches. If you do, remember this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.

²²This is what the Lord God says: ‘I will take a shoot from the lofty top of the cedar, and I will set it out. I will pluck a tender sprig from its topmost shoots, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.

²³I will plant it on the mountain heights of Israel so that it will bear branches; it will yield fruit and become a majestic cedar. Birds of every kind will nest under it, taking shelter in the shade of its branches.

³and tell them that this is what the Lord God says: ‘A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers of many colors, came to Lebanon and took away the top of the cedar.

⁴He plucked off its topmost shoot, carried it to the land of merchants, and planted it in a city of traders.

¹⁰Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, planted by the water; it was fruitful and full of branches because of the abundant waters.

²⁶Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.

⁷Remember that my life is but a breath. My eyes will never again see happiness.

⁸The eye that beholds me will no longer see me. You will look for me, but I will be no more.

³³When Jacob had finished instructing his sons, he pulled his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and he was gathered to his people.

³²The wicked man is thrown down by his own sin, but the righteous man has a refuge even in death.

²²One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. And the rich man also died and was buried.

²³In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.

¹²so a man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no more, he will not be awakened or roused from sleep.

⁵The waters of the Nile will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and empty.

¹⁸Why is my pain unending, and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? You have indeed become like a mirage to me—water that is not there.

¹⁵But my brothers are as faithless as wadis, as seasonal streams that overflow,

¹⁶darkened because of the ice and the inflow of melting snow,

²¹before I go—never to return—to a land of darkness and gloom,

²²to a land of utter darkness, of deep shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.”

¹⁹Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.

¹⁹For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other—they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile.

²⁰All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.

¹³For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest

¹⁰But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.

¹¹Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to conduct yourselves in holiness and godliness

⁷And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

¹The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one considers that the righteous are taken away from the presence of evil.

²Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest, lying down in death.

²⁰Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves a little while until the wrath has passed.

²¹For behold, the Lord is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.

³²No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

¹⁷There the wicked cease from raging, and there the weary find rest.

¹⁸The captives enjoy their ease; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.

¹In that day you will say: “O Lord, I will praise You. Although You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away, and You have comforted me.

⁴Remember me, O Lord, in Your favor to Your people; visit me with Your salvation,

⁵¹Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—

⁵²in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

⁸Why would any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?

¹⁴Wait patiently for the Lord; be strong and courageous. Wait patiently for the Lord!

¹“Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?

¹⁵Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. I will still defend my ways to His face.

²¹who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.

²²Then call me, and I will answer, or let me speak, and You can reply.

⁸The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me. O Lord, Your loving devotion endures forever—do not abandon the works of Your hands.

²¹Why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For soon I will lie down in the dust; You will seek me, but I will be no more.”

³Does it please You to oppress me, to reject the work of Your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked?

⁸Your hands shaped me and altogether formed me. Would You now turn and destroy me?

¹⁹So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should entrust their souls to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

⁶that You should seek my iniquity and search out my sin—

⁴Does He not see my ways and count my every step?

¹For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

²You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar.

²¹For His eyes are on the ways of a man, and He sees his every step.

²¹For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and the Lord examines all his paths.

¹⁹the One great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are on all the ways of the sons of men, to reward each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.

³⁴“Have I not stored up these things, sealed up within My vaults?

¹²The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is stored up.

¹⁹It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children. Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it.

¹⁴The sky receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.

⁴You who tear yourself in anger—should the earth be forsaken on your account, or the rocks be moved from their place?

²⁴I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were quaking; all the hills were swaying.

²⁵In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.

²⁶They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing You will change them, and they will be passed on.

¹⁰Though the mountains may be removed and the hills may be shaken, My loving devotion will not depart from you, and My covenant of peace will not be broken,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

¹If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,

⁶My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.

¹⁰He tears me down on every side until I am gone; He uproots my hope like a tree.

⁸For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?

¹⁹Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’

²⁰But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

¹⁷And behold, I will bring floodwaters upon the earth to destroy every creature under the heavens that has the breath of life. Everything on the earth will perish.

¹¹Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’

¹²When they lifted up their eyes from afar, they could barely recognize Job. They began to weep aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust in the air over his head.

¹⁴When a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, until my renewal comes.

⁸As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

⁸But now their appearance is blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as a stick.

⁵For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.

¹⁸I hated all for which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.

¹⁹And who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish? Yet he will take over all the labor at which I have worked skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.

¹⁶Yet You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O Lord, are our Father; our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.

⁷And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, will be taken away to be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

⁸But Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “At least there will be peace and security in my lifetime.”

⁶Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.

²⁰As she was dying, the women attending to her said, “Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son!” But she did not respond or pay any heed.

²⁶Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.

¹⁹A man is also chastened on his bed with pain and constant distress in his bones,

²⁰so that he detests his bread, and his soul loathes his favorite food.

³²The wicked man is thrown down by his own sin, but the righteous man has a refuge even in death.

²²Why do you persecute me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh?

²⁰My skin and flesh cling to my bones; I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

²³In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.

²⁴So he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am in agony in this fire.’