2“Like a flower he comes forth and withers.
         He also flees like a shadow and does not remain.

3“You also open Your eyes on him
         And bring him into judgment with Yourself.

4“Who can make the clean out of the unclean?
         No one!

5“Since his days are determined,
         The number of his months is with You;
         And his limits You have set so that he cannot pass.

6“Turn Your gaze from him that he may rest,
         Until he fulfills his day like a hired man.

7“For there is hope for a tree,
         When it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
         And its shoots will not fail.

8“Though its roots grow old in the ground
         And its stump dies in the dry soil,

9At the scent of water it will flourish
         And put forth sprigs like a plant.

10“But man dies and lies prostrate.
         Man expires, and where is he?

11“As water evaporates from the sea,
         And a river becomes parched and dried up,

12So man lies down and does not rise.
         Until the heavens are no longer,
         He will not awake nor be aroused out of his sleep.

13“Oh that You would hide me in Sheol,
         That You would conceal me until Your wrath returns to You,
         That You would set a limit for me and remember me!

14“If a man dies, will he live again?
         All the days of my struggle I will wait
         Until my change comes.

15“You will call, and I will answer You;
         You will long for the work of Your hands.

16“For now You number my steps,
         You do not observe my sin.

17“My transgression is sealed up in a bag,
         And You wrap up my iniquity.

18“But the falling mountain crumbles away,
         And the rock moves from its place;

19Water wears away stones,
         Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth;
         So You destroy man’s hope.

20“You forever overpower him and he departs;
         You change his appearance and send him away.

21“His sons achieve honor, but he does not know it;
         Or they become insignificant, but he does not perceive it.

22“But his body pains him,
         And he mourns only for himself.”

NASB ©1995

American Standard Version
He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Who cometh forth like a flower, and is destroyed, and fleeth as a shadow, and never continueth in the same state.

Darby Bible Translation
He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down; and he fleeth as a shadow, and continueth not.

English Revised Version
He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

Webster's Bible Translation
He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

World English Bible
He comes forth like a flower, and is cut down. He also flees like a shadow, and doesn't continue.

Young's Literal Translation
As a flower he hath gone forth, and is cut off, And he fleeth as a shadow and standeth not.February 18 Evening
Adam . . . begat a son in his own likeness.--GEN. 5:3. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?--Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Dead in trespasses and sins; . . . by nature the children of wrath, even as others.--I am carnal, sold under sin. That which I do I allow not; for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing. By one man sin entered into the world, . . . by one man's …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

November 22 Evening
There is a hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.--JOB 14:7. A bruised reed shall he not break.--He restoreth my soul. Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.--No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceful fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Before I was afflicted …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

October 19 Evening
Consolation in Christ, . . . comfort of love, . . . fellowship of the Spirit.--PHI. 2:1. Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down; he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.--My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. The Father . . . shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever: the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name.--Blessed be God, …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

Job's Question, Jesus' Answer
'If a man die, shall he live again?'--JOB xiv. 14. '... I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26. And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.'--JOHN xi. 25, 26. Job's question waited long for an answer. Weary centuries rolled away; but at last the doubting, almost despairing, cry put into the mouth of the man of sorrows of the Old Testament is answered by the Man of Sorrows of the New. The answer in words is this second …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

An Unanswerable Question.
"Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one."--JOB xiv. 4. This is one of those simple questions which, by their very simplicity and directness, set us thinking about the importance of our personal life. "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?" But all our common life is somehow the outcome of our separate individual lives--of your life and mine. Therefore how important it is in the common interest that each of us should look above all things to his own life and its character, …
John Percival—Sermons at Rugby

A Voice from the Hartley Colliery
This text is appropriate to the occasion, but God alone knoweth how applicable the discourse may be to some here present; yes, to young hearts little dreaming that there is but a step between them and death; to aged persons, who as yet have not set their house in order, but who must do it, for they shall die and not live. We will take the question of the text, and answer it upon Scriptural grounds. "If a man die, shall he live again?" NO!--YES! I. We answer the question first with a "No." He shall …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 8: 1863

The Voice of Job.
O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.'--Job xiv. 13-15. The book of Job seems to me the most daring of poems: from a position of the most vantageless realism, it assaults the very …
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

Meditations for the Evening.
At evening, when thou preparest thyself to take thy rest, meditate on these few points:-- 1. That seeing thy days are numbered (Psal. xc.; Job xiv. 5), there is one more of thy number spent, and thou art now the nearer to thy end by a day. 2. Sit down a while before thou goest to bed, and consider with thyself what memorable thing thou hast seen, heard, or read that day, more than thou sawest, heardst, or knewest before, and make the best use of them; but especially call to mind what sin thou hast …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

My God! I Know that I must Die.
"Mein Gott! ich weiss wohl dass lch sterbe." Job 14:11,12. [13]B. Schmolk. transl., Sarah Findlater, 1854 My God! I know that I must die-- My mortal life is passing hence On earth I neither hope nor try To find a lasting residence. Then teach me by Thy heavenly grace, With joy and peace my death to face. My God! I know not when I die, What is the moment or the hour-- How soon the clay may broken lie, How quickly pass away the flower; Then may Thy child prepared be Through time to meet Eternity. …
Jane Borthwick—Hymns from the Land of Luther

Life, Death, and Judgment. --Job xiv. 1-3. 11-13.
Life, Death, and Judgment.--Job xiv. 1-3. 11-13. Few, few and evil are thy days, Man, of a woman born; Peril and trouble haunt thy ways; Forth, like a flower at morn, The tender infant springs to light, Youth blossoms to the breeze, Age, withering age, is cropt ere night; Man like a shadow flees. And dost thou look on such an one? Will God to judgment call A worm, for what a worm hath done Against the Lord of all? As fail the waters from the deep, As summer-brooks run dry, Man lieth down in dreamless …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Whether one Can be Happy in this Life?
Objection 1: It would seem that Happiness can be had in this life. For it is written (Ps. 118:1): "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord." But this happens in this life. Therefore one can be happy in this life. Objection 2: Further, imperfect participation in the Sovereign Good does not destroy the nature of Happiness, otherwise one would not be happier than another. But men can participate in the Sovereign Good in this life, by knowing and loving God, albeit imperfectly. …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

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