The Brevity of Life

14:1 “Man, born of woman,1

lives but a few days,2 and they are full of trouble.3

14:2 He grows up4 like a flower and then withers away;5

he flees like a shadow, and does not remain.6

14:3 Do you fix your eye7 on such a one?8

And do you bring me9 before you for judgment?

14:4 Who can make10 a clean thing come from an unclean?11

No one!

14:5 Since man’s days12 are determined,13

the number of his months is under your control;14

you have set his limit15 and he cannot pass it.

14:6 Look away from him and let him desist,16

until he fulfills17 his time like a hired man.