[1] Job Continues his Prayer Life is short and sorrowful for every living soul. [2] We are flowers that fade and shadows that vanish. [3] And so, I ask you, God, why pick on me? [4] There's no way a human can be completely pure. [5] Our time on earth is brief; the number of our days is already decided by you. [6] Why don't you leave us alone and let us find some happiness while we toil and labor? [7] When a tree is chopped down, there is always the hope that it will sprout again. [8] Its roots and stump may rot, [9] but at the touch of water, fresh twigs shoot up. [10] Humans are different- we die, and that's the end. [11] We are like streams and lakes after the water has gone; [12] we fall into the sleep of death, never to rise again, until the sky disappears. [13] Please hide me, God, deep in the ground- and when you are angry no more, remember to rescue me. [14] Will we humans live again? I would gladly suffer and wait for my time. [15] My Creator, you would want me; you would call out, and I would answer. [16] You would take care of me, but not count my sins- [17] you would put them in a bag, tie it tight, and toss them away. [18] But in the real world, mountains tumble, and rocks crumble; [19] streams wear away stones and wash away soil. And you destroy our hopes! [20] You change the way we look, then send us away, wiped out forever. [21] We never live to know if our children are praised or disgraced. [22] We feel no pain but our own, and when we mourn, it's only for ourselves.
