Job 14:1-12

1Anyone born of woman is short of days and full of trouble.

2He blossoms like a flower, then withers; he flees like a shadow and does not last.

3Do you really take notice of one like this? Will you bring me into judgment against you?

4Who can produce something pure from what is impure? No one!

5Since a person’s days are determined and the number of his months depends on you, and since you have set limits he cannot pass,

6look away from him and let him rest so that he can enjoy his day like a hired worker.

7There is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its shoots will not die.

8If its roots grow old in the ground and its stump starts to die in the soil,

9the scent of water makes it thrive and produce twigs like a sapling.

10But a person dies and fades away; he breathes his last — where is he?

11As water disappears from a lake and a river becomes parched and dry,

12so people lie down never to rise again. They will not wake up until the heavens are no more; they will not stir from their sleep.