Human Beings Live and Die

1Human beings born by women

are short-liveda and full of trouble.

2He springs upb like a flower and then withers.c

Like a shadow, he disappearsd and doesn’t last.

3Indeed, have you opened your eyes on one like this—

to bring me into a legal fight with you?

4Who can produce a clean thing from an unclean thing?

No one!

5Since his days have been determined,

the number of his months is known to you.

You’ve set his limit

and he cannot exceed it.

6Look away from him and leave him alone,

so he can enjoy his time, like a hired worker.”

Death is Certain

7“There is hope for the tree, if it is cut down,

that it will sprout again,

and that its shoots won’t stop growing.

8Even if its roots have grown ancient in the earth,

and its stump begins to rote in the ground,

9the presencef of water will make it to bud

so that it sprouts new branches like a young plant.

10“But when a persong dies and wastes away,

when a personh breathes his last, where will he be?

11As water disappears from the sea,

or water evaporates from a river,

12so also a personi lies down and does not get up;

they won’t awaken until the heavens are no more,

nor will they arise from their sleep.”

There is Life after Death

13“Won’t you keep me safe in the afterlife?j

Conceal me until your anger subsides.

Set an appointment for me,

then remember me.

14If a human beingk dies, will he live again?

I will endure the entire time of my assigned service,

until I am changed.l

15You’ll call and I’ll answer you;

you’ll long for your creatures that your hands have made.m

16Then you’ll certainly count every step I took,

but you won’t keep an inventory of my sin.

17My transgressions would be sealed up in a bag;

you would cover over my sins.

18“Mountains fall and crumble;

rocks are dislodged from their places.

19Water wears away stones;

floods wash away topsoil from the land—

but you destroy the hope of human beings just like that!

20You overpower him once and for all, and then he departs;

you change his appearance and then send him away.

21“If his children are honored, he doesn’t know it;

if they become insignificant, he never perceives it.

22He feels only his own pain,n

and grieves only for himself.”