The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
King James Version KJV
1 "A human being, born from a woman, lives a short, trouble-filled life.
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Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
2 He comes up like a flower and withers away, flees like a shadow, doesn't last.
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He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
3 You fix your eyes on a creature like this? You drag him to court with you?
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And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?
4 Who can bring what is pure from something impure? No one!
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Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
5 Since his days are fixed in advance, the number of his months is known to you, and you have fixed the limits which he can't cross;
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Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
6 look away from him, and let him be; so that, like a hired worker, he can finish his day in peace.
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Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.
7 "For a tree, there is hope that if cut down, it will sprout again, that its shoots will continue to grow.
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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.
8 Even if its roots grow old in the earth and its stump dies in the ground,
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Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;
9 yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth branches like a young plant.
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Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.
10 But when a human being grows weak and dies, he expires; and then where is he?
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But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?
11 Just as water in a lake disappears, as a river shrinks and dries up;
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As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:
12 so a person lies down and doesn't arise until the sky no longer exists; it will not awaken, it won't be roused from its sleep.
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So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.
13 "I wish you would hide me in Sh'ol, conceal me until your anger has passed, then fix a time and remember me!
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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!
14 If a man dies, will he live again? I will wait all the days of my life for my change to come.
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If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
15 You will call, and I will answer you; you will long to see what you made again.
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Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.
16 Whereas now you count each step of mine, then you will not keep watch for my sin.
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For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?
17 You will seal up my crime in a bag and cover over my iniquity.
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My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity.
18 "Just as a mountain erodes and falls away, its rock is removed from its place,
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And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place.
19 the water wears away its stones, and the floods wash away its soil, so you destroy a person's hope.
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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.
20 You overpower him, and he passes on; you change his appearance and send him away.
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Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.
21 His children earn honor, but he doesn't know it; or they are brought low, but he doesn't notice.
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His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.
22 He feels pain only for his own flesh; he laments only for himself."
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But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The King James Version is in the public domain.