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Job Speaks of the Finality of Death

¹ "^(C1)Man, who is born of a woman,
Is short-lived and ^(C2)full of turmoil.

² "^(C1)Like a flower he comes forth and withers;
He also flees like ^(C2)a shadow and does not remain.

³ "You also ^(C1)open Your eyes upon him
And ^(C2)bring him into judgment with Yourself.

⁴ "^(C1)Who can make a clean thing out of the unclean?
No one! ^(VR1)

⁵ "Since his days are determined,
The ^(C1)number of his months is with You in Your control,
And You have made his limits so he cannot pass his allotted time.

⁶ "O God ^(C1)turn your gaze from him so that he may rest,
Until he fulfills his day on earth like a hired man.

⁷ "For there is hope for a tree,
If it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
And that the shoots of it will not cease nor fail, but there is no such hope for man.

⁸ "Though its roots grow old in the earth
And its stump dies in the dry soil,

⁹ Yet at the scent of water the stump of the tree will flourish
And bring forth sprigs and shoots like a seedling.

¹⁰ "But the brave, strong ^(C1)man must die and lie face down;
Man ^(C2)breathes his last, and where is he?

¹¹ "As ^(C1)water evaporates from the sea,
And a river drains and dries up,

¹² So ^(C1)man lies down and does not rise again.
Until the heavens are no longer,
The dead will not awake nor be raised from their sleep.

¹³ "Oh, that You would hide me in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
That You would conceal me ^(C1)until Your wrath is past,
That You would set a definite time and then remember me and in Your lovingkindness imprint me on your heart!

¹⁴ "If a man dies, will he live again?
I will wait all the days of my struggle
Until my change and release will come. ^(VR1)

¹⁵ "Then You will call, and I will answer You;
You will long for me ^(C1)the work of Your hands.

¹⁶ "But now You ^(C1)number each of my steps;
You do not ^(C2)observe nor take note of my sin.

¹⁷ "My transgression is ^(C1)sealed up in a bag,
And You cover my wickedness from Your view.

¹⁸ "But as a mountain, if it falls, crumbles into nothing,
And as the rock is moved from its place,

¹⁹ Water wears away the stones,
Its floods and torrents wash away the soil of the earth,
So You O Lord ^(C1)destroy the hope of man.

²⁰ "You prevail forever against him and overpower him, and he ^(C1)passes on;
You change his appearance and send him away from the presence of the living.

²¹ "His sons achieve honor, and he does not know it;
They become insignificant, and ^(C1)he is not aware of it.

²² "But his body lamenting its decay grieves in pain over it,
And his soul mourns over the loss of himself."