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14:1  “Human beings have only a few days to live. Their lives are full of trouble.
14:2  They grow like flowers, and then they dry up. They are like shadows that quickly disappear.
14:3  “God, do you even notice them? Will you let them appear in your court?
14:4  Who can bring what is pure from something that isn’t pure? No one!
14:5  You decide how long anyone will live. You have established the number of his months. You have set a limit to the number of his days.
14:6  So look away from him. Leave him alone. Let him put in his time like a hired worker.
14:7  “At least there is hope for a tree. If it’s cut down, it will begin to grow again. New branches will appear on it.
14:8  Its roots may grow old in the ground. Its stump may die in the soil.
14:9  But when it smells water, it will begin to grow. It will send out new growth like a plant.
14:10  No man is like that. When he dies, he is buried in a grave. He takes his last breath. Then he is gone.
14:11  Water dries up from lakes. Riverbeds become empty and dry.
14:12  In the same way, people lie down and never get up. People won’t wake or rise from their sleep until the heavens are gone.
14:13  “I wish you would hide me in a grave! I wish you would cover me up until your anger passes by! I wish you would set the time for me to spend in the grave and then bring me back up!
14:14  If someone dies, will they live again? All the days of my hard work I will wait for the time when you give me new life.
14:15  You will call out to me, and I will answer you. You will long for the person your hands have made.
14:16  Then you will count every step I take. But you won’t keep track of my sin.
14:17  The wrong things I’ve done will be sealed up in a bag. You will wipe out my sins by forgiving them.
14:18  “A mountain wears away and crumbles. A rock is moved from its place.
14:19  Water wears away stones. Storms wash away soil. In the same way, you destroy a person’s hope.
14:20  You overpower them completely, and then they’re gone. You change the way they look and send them to their graves.
14:21  If their children are honored, they don’t even know it. If their children are dishonored, they don’t even see it.
14:22  All they feel is the pain of their own bodies. They are full of sadness only for themselves.”