Job Chapter 14
Showing all 22 verses for Job Chapter 14.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. "
"Everyone born into this world lives only a short time, and that short life is packed with trouble."
I see how short and hard life can be for you - I'm not shocked by it or expecting you to skip past your pain to get to gratitude. Bring me the whole of it, trouble included, honestly and without pretending.
"He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. "
"A person grows like a flower blooming, then is cut down; they pass by like a shadow, gone before you can hold onto them."
Don't measure your worth by how long you last. A flower's beauty isn't diminished by how quickly it fades - what matters is how fully you live while you're here, not how many years you're granted.
"And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee? "
"So why do you even bother watching someone like that closely, and why put me on trial before you?"
I don't watch you to catch you out. When you feel like every mistake and weakness is being tallied against you, know that isn't how love works - love watches for your good, not to build a case against you.
"Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one. "
"Nobody can produce something pure out of something impure - it just isn't possible."
I know none of you are perfect - that was never the bar. Don't let your own imperfection convince you that you deserve to be crushed; instead let it teach you gentleness towards others who share the same struggle.
"Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass; "
"Since a person's days are already fixed, the number of their months set by you, and you've drawn boundaries they cannot cross -"
I know your days are numbered - that's not a threat, it's a reason to be gentle with yourself and others. None of us gets unlimited time, so use what you have to love well rather than to prove yourself.
"Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day. "
"Look away from him, let him have some rest, until he finishes his time like a hired worker finishing a shift."
Sometimes what a suffering person needs isn't an answer or a lesson - just space to rest and get through the day. I don't demand that you perform strength while you're breaking; it's alright to simply ask for relief.
"For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. "
"A tree at least has hope: if it's chopped down, it can sprout again, and new tender shoots keep coming."
Even nature shows you that endings aren't always final - new life can come from what looks like a dead stump. Hold onto that hope even when, like Job, you can't yet see how it applies to you.
"Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; "
"Even if its root grows old in the soil and its stump dies in the ground -"
Don't judge how alive something (or someone) still is just from the surface. What looks finished to you may not be finished at all - patience and hope are often rewarded in ways you can't predict.
"Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. "
"Yet at just the scent of water it will bud and put out branches like a young plant."
New life can come from the smallest signal of hope - just a scent of water. Stay open to small signs of renewal in your own life, even during a season that feels completely dried up.
"But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? "
"But a person dies and simply wastes away; a person breathes their last - and then where are they?"
I won't rush you past this question with a quick answer. It's human to stare into the mystery of death and feel the weight of "where is he?" - sit with that honestly; I'm not offended by your uncertainty.
"As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up: "
"Like water evaporating from a lake, or a river running dry and disappearing -"
Even when something feels permanently gone, remember this is Job's honest perception in his darkest hour, not the final word of the whole story - hold space for grief without assuming it's the last chapter.
"So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. "
"In the same way, a person lies down and doesn't get up; until the heavens themselves cease to exist, they won't wake up or be roused from that sleep."
It's alright to hold despair and hope in the same breath, even in the same conversation - that's not a contradiction, it's honesty. I don't need you to have your theology settled before you're allowed to grieve or to hope.
"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 only you would hide me in the grave, keep me tucked away out of sight until your anger has passed, set a fixed time for me, and then remember me!"
Even when you want to disappear from pain for a while, know that being forgotten is not what waits for you. I remember you always - hiding from hardship for a season doesn't mean you're lost to me.
"If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. "
"If a person dies, will they live again? I will wait out all my appointed days, however hard, until my change comes."
You don't need a guaranteed answer about what comes after to keep going with integrity now. Waiting faithfully through hard, unresolved seasons - without pretending to know more than you do - is itself an act of real courage.
"Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands. "
"You will call, and I will answer you; you will long for the work of your own hands."
I don't just permit you to come back to me - I long for it, the way a maker longs for what they've made. Whatever distance you feel right now, know the desire for closeness runs both ways.
"For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin? "
"But right now you count every step I take - are you not watching closely for my sin?"
I see how exhausting it feels to sense you're being watched only for your failures. That isn't how I actually see you - but I understand why suffering can make it feel that way, and I won't judge you for the whiplash of your emotions.
"My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity. "
"My wrongdoing is sealed up in a bag, and you've stitched my guilt shut inside it, as if kept safe for later."
I don't keep a sealed bag of your failures ready to bring out against you. What you're describing is fear talking, not truth - real forgiveness means the record gets torn up, not filed away.
"And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place. "
"Just as surely as a falling mountain crumbles to nothing, and a rock gets moved from where it stood -"
Even what feels most solid in your life can shift over time - that's not a reason for despair, it's simply how change works. Don't build your whole sense of security on anything that isn't me.
"The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man. "
"Water wears down stone over time; you wash away what grows from the earth's soil - and in the same way, you destroy human hope."
I know grinding, slow suffering can feel worse than one sharp blow - hope eroding drop by drop. Tell me honestly when you feel like that, rather than pretending your hope is intact when it isn't; I can handle your anger.
"Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away. "
"You overpower him for good, and he's gone; you change his face and send him off."
I don't shy away from the plain physical reality of death either - it's real, and it's alright to name it plainly rather than wrapping it in euphemism. Facing it honestly, as Job does, is not a lack of faith.
"His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them. "
"His children may rise to honour, and he won't know it; they may be brought low, and he won't perceive that either."
The love you show your children now, while you're alive, is what matters - don't wait for some future vindication or reward to make your care for them meaningful. Love them fully today.
"But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn. "
"But while he's alive, his body feels pain, and his inner self mourns."
I don't need your pain to resolve into a tidy lesson before I'll sit with you in it. Sometimes the truest thing you can say is simply "this hurts" - and that alone is a complete and honest prayer.