14:1 “Man, born of woman,
lives but a few days, and they are full of trouble.
14:2 He grows up like a flower and then withers away;
he flees like a shadow, and does not remain.
14:3 Do you fix your eye on such a one?
And do you bring me before you for judgment?
14:4 Who can make a clean thing come from an unclean?
No one!
14:5 Since man’s days are determined,
the number of his months is under your control;
you have set his limit and he cannot pass it.
14:6 Look away from him and let him desist,
until he fulfills his time like a hired man.
14:7 “But there is hope for a tree:
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its new shoots will not fail.
14:8 Although its roots may grow old in the ground
and its stump begins to die in the soil,
14:9 at the scent of water it will flourish
and put forth shoots like a new plant.
14:10 But man dies and is powerless;
he expires – and where is he?