Job 14

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

Job reflects on the frail and troubled nature of human life, noting that man is like a fading flower or a fleeting shadow whose days are determined by God. He contrasts human mortality with trees, which can sprout again from their roots at the scent of water, whereas a man dies and lies down without rising until the heavens are no more. Job questions whether a dead person can live again and expresses a wish to be hidden in Sheol until God's anger passes, anticipating a future time when God might call and remember him. He then describes how God overwhelms humanity, eroding human hope much like water wears away stones and torrents wash away soil. Finally, Job states that a deceased man remains unaware of whether his sons receive honor or are brought low, feeling only the physical pain of his own body and mourning for himself.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

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? ¹¹As water disappears from the sea and a river becomes parched and dry, ¹²so a man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no more, he will not be awakened or roused from sleep. ¹³If only You would hide me in Sheol and conceal me until Your anger has passed! If only You would appoint a time for me and then remember me! ¹⁴When a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, until my renewal comes. ¹⁵You will call, and I will answer; You will desire the work of Your hands. ¹⁶For then You would count my steps, but would not keep track of my sin. ¹⁷My transgression would be sealed in a bag, and You would cover over my iniquity. ¹⁸But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and a rock is dislodged from its place, ¹⁹as water wears away the stones and torrents wash away the soil, so You destroy a man’s hope. ²⁰You forever overpower him, and he passes on; You change his countenance and send him away. ²¹If his sons receive honor, he does not know it; if they are brought low, he is unaware. ²²He feels only the pain of his own body and mourns only for himself.”

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.