If a Man Dies, Will He Live Again?

¹“Man, who is born of woman,

Is short-lived and full of turmoil.

²“Like a flower he comes forth and withers.

He also flees like a shadow and does not stand.

³“You also open Your eyes on him

And bring me 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 cease from toil ,

Until he accepts his day like a hired man.

⁷¶“For there is hope for a tree,

When it is cut down, that it will change back sprouting again,

And its shoots will not cease.

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 breathes his last, and where is he?

¹¹“As water evaporates from the sea,[#14:11 Lit disappears]

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 conceal me in Sheol,

That You would hide me until Your anger 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 labor 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 keep watch over my sin.

¹⁷“My transgression is sealed up in a bag,

And You cover up my iniquity.

¹⁸¶“But the falling mountain crumbles away,[#14:18 Lit withers]

And the rock moves from its place;

¹⁹Water wears away stones;

Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth;

So You make man’s hope perish.

²⁰“You forever overpower him and he goes away ;

You alter 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 flesh pains him,

And he mourns only for himself.”