Will a Man Live Again?

14:1 “Man, born of woman,

lives but a few days, and they are full of trouble.

2 He grows up like a flower and then withers away;

he flees like a shadow and does not remain.

3 Do you fix your eye on such a one?

And do you bring me before you for judgment?

4 Who can make a clean thing come from an unclean?

No one!

5 Since man’s days are determined,

the number of his months is under your control;

you have set his limit, and he cannot pass it.

6 Look away from him and let him desist,

until he fulfills his time like a hired man.

7 “But there is hope for a tree:

If it is cut down, it will sprout again,

and its new shoots will not fail.

8 Although its roots may grow old in the ground

and its stump begins to die in the soil,

9 at the scent of water it will flourish

and put forth shoots like a new plant.

10 But man dies and is powerless;

he expires—and where is he?

11 As water disappears from the sea,

or a river drains away and dries up,

12 so man lies down and does not rise;

until the heavens are no more,

they will not awake

nor arise from their sleep.

13 “O that you would hide me in Sheol,

and conceal me till your anger has passed!

O that you would set me a time

and then remember me!

14 If a man dies, will he live again?

All the days of my hard service I will wait

until my release comes.