Job 14:19

as water wears away stones, and torrents ¹  wash away the soil, ²  so you destroy man’s hope. ³ 

as water wears away stones and torrents wash away the soil, so you destroy man’s hope.

Water wears away stones, Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth; So You destroy man’s hope.

as water wears away the stones and floods wash away the soil, so you destroy people’s hope.

Stones wear smooth and soil erodes, as you relentlessly grind down our hope.

The stones are crushed small by the force of the waters; the dust of the earth is washed away by their overflowing: and so you put an end to the hope of man.

the waters wear away the stones; the torrents wash away the soil of the earth; so you destroy the hope of mortals.

As water wears away stones, And as torrents wash away the soil of the earth; So You destroy the hope of man.

as water wears away stones, and torrents ¹  wash away the soil, ²  so you destroy man’s hope. ³ 

¹ tn Heb “the overflowings of it”; the word סְפִיחֶיהָ (sÿfikheyha) in the text is changed by just about everyone. The idea of “its overflowings” or more properly “its aftergrowths” (Lev 25:5; 2 Kgs 19:29; etc.) does not fit here at all. Budde suggested reading סְחִפָה (sÿkhifah), which is cognate to Arabic sahifeh, “torrential rain, rainstorm” – that which sweeps away” the soil. The word סָחַף (sakhaf) in Hebrew might have a wider usage than the effects of rain.

² tn Heb “[the] dust of [the] earth.”

³ sn The meaning for Job is that death shatters all of man’s hopes for the continuation of life.