Job 14 - Easy To Read Version

¹ \{Job said,\} “We are all human beings. {\cf2\super [24]} Our life is short and full of trouble.

² Man’s life is like a flower. He grows quickly, and then dies away. Man’s life is like a shadow that is here for a short time, and then it is gone.

³ That is true, but God, will you look at me, a man? And will you come into court with me and let us both give our arguments?

⁴ “But what does something clean\par have in common with something dirty?\par Nothing!\par

⁵ Man’s life is limited.\par God, you decide how long a man lives.\par You set those limits for a man\par and nothing can change them.\par

⁶ So God, stop watching us.\par Leave us alone.\par Let us enjoy our hard life\par until our time is finished.\par

⁷ “There is hope for a tree.\par If it is cut down, it can grow again.\par It will keep sending out new branches.\par

⁸ Its roots might grow old in the ground\par and its stump die in the dirt,\par

⁹ but with water it will grow again.\par It will grow branches like a new plant.\par

¹⁰ But when man dies, he is finished!\par When man dies, he is gone.\par

¹¹ You could take all the water from the sea,\par until the rivers all run dry,\par \{and the man will still be dead\}!\par

¹² When a person dies, he lies down\par and he doesn’t get up.\par The skies will all disappear\par before a dead man will wake up.\par No. People don’t wake up from that sleep.\par

¹³ “I wish you would hide me in my grave.\par I wish you would hide me there,\par until your anger is gone.\par Then you could pick a time\par to remember me.\par

¹⁴ If a person dies, will he live again?\par I would wait as long as I must\par until I could be set free.\par

¹⁵ God, you would call me\par and I would answer you.\par Then I, the person you made,\par would be important to you.\par

¹⁶ You would still watch every step I take,\par but you wouldn’t remember my sins.\par

¹⁷ You would tie up my sins in a bag,\par seal it, \{and throw it away\}!\par

¹⁸ “Mountains fall and crumble away.\par Large rocks break loose and fall.\par

¹⁹ Water flowing over stones\par wears them down.\par Floods wash away the soil on the ground.\par In the same way, God,\par you destroy a person’s hope.\par

²⁰ You defeat him completely\par and then you leave.\par You make him sad\par and send him away forever\par \{to the place of death\}.\par

²¹ If his sons are honored,\par he never knows it.\par If his sons do wrong,\par he never sees it.\par

²² That man only feels the pain in his body,\par and he cries loudly only for himself.”\par