Paraphrase on the Book of Job, Chapter 14
CHAP. XIV.
1. THou knowst also, that if thou1. Man that is borne of a woman, is of few daies, and full of trouble. didst not use extraordinary meanes against me, yet by my very nature and kind coming of mortall parents, I like other men, should in a short time, consume and die; and this life, as short as it is, is also of it selfe full of troubles.
2. We, thou knowest, bring mortality2. Hee cometh forth like a flower, and is cut downe: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. and transitorinesse into the world with us, and that little temporall felicity which wee enjoy, is quickly at an end; for as the flowers, so we have no more than a spring and a fall; or as the shadow of a diall, our lives are continually hasting to their period, and never make stop.
3. And dost thou set thy selfe strictly3. And doest thou open thine eyes upon such an one, & bringest me into judgement with thee? to view the imperfections of such a creature, and to question mee in the rigour of thy righteous judgement?
4. Why, thou knowest, if thou proceed4. Who can bring a cleane thing out of an uncleane? not one. in that way, I must needs be cast, that am even borne a sinner, as every man else is; for must not a corrupt tree needs bring forth corrupt fruit?
5. But seeing that as we are sinners5. Seeing his daies are determined, the number of his moneths are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that hee cannot passe. by nature, so by sinne we are mortall, and that thou hast determined death as a condigne punishment unto man (and so to me) so that he must certainly undergoe it at the time appointed by thee, nor is he able to lengthen his life a minute further than thy decree.
6. O then in mercy let that suffice6. Turne from him that he may rest, till hee shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day. thee, and make not his whole life a death, but take thy heavie hand off him, that hee may be able to fulfill his appointed time in thy service here, which is but short.
7. 8. 9. For what will it availe thee7. For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout againe, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. to destroy man, seeing it is not with him, as it is with other of thy creatures? for let a tree be felled and though the root thereof lie in the earth (as a dead man does in the grave,) yet there is a8. Though the root thereof waxe old in the earth, and the stock therof die in the ground: great deale of difference; for there is hope to him that owneth it that it will spring againe, and be profitable to9. Yet, through the sent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. him, by reason of some sap and moisture that it will draw out of the earth, whence it hath his vegetative life and being.
10. But it is quite otherwaies with10. But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? man; for, when hee dieth, the earth, nor nothing else, can contribute any thing to him to make him live againe, or in the least measure be serviceable to his owner here; but on the contrary, he consumeth to dust, and becommeth utterly uselesse: for, when man once gives up the ghost, there is no further hope of him.
11. For, as the waters which after11. As the waters faile from the sea, & the flood decayeth and drieth up: some exundation of the Sea, or some great river are separated and left (upon the refluxe thereof) behind the rest upon the land, which cannot returne nor continue, but therefore utterly drieth up and evaporate:
12. So man, having once given up12. So man lieth down, and riseth not, till the heavens be no moret, hey shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleepe. the ghost, is quite separated from the source of life, never to be united, nor to live againe, till the day of the utter dissolution of all things.
13. O, that this were my lot, and13. O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep mee secret, untill thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint mee a set time, and remember mee. that thou wouldest grant me the grave for my portion, so to escape the horrours that are upon me, and that (so doing) thou wouldest set downe even what time thou pleasest to raise me out againe, so that thou wouldest but be sure at last to remember me.
14. Then should I thinke my selfe14. If a man die, shall hee live againe? all the daies of mine appointed time will I wait, till my change come. happy, because, if I be once dead, I know I shall no more returne to these miseries, upon which condition, I would be glad to waite with patience what time soever thou shouldest allot me to lie in the grave, in assurance of a happy change to follow.
15. For though thou afflictest mee15. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands. in this life, yet am I sure in the resurrection to feele thy mercies; so as that when thou callest, I shall not need to feare (as the hypocrites will) to shew my face; for I know that thou thy selfe, for the love thou bearest mee of thy goodnesse, who am thy creature, and one whom thou hast shewne favour, and reprinted thine Image: wilt long after the consummation of my happinesse.
16. And indeed, seeing such happinesse16. For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sinnes? would certainly ensue, who can blame me to desire my dissolution, to be rid of this wofull pressure that lies upon me? For now thou persecutest me with thy utmost severity, seeming to take most strict notice of every byway that ever I have trod, and as if thou didst watch over my sinnes, that not one of them should escape unpunished.
17. Thou hast, as it were, sealed17. My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sowest up mine iniquitie. up and made sure worke with all my sinnes that ever I commited, to have them now forth-comming for the increase of my punishment.
18. And now, Lord, if the strong18. And surely the mountaine falling commeth to nought: and the rock is removed out of his place. mountaines and hard rockes are not able to stand when thou thunderest with thy power upon them, but that they come to nought, and remove out of their place:
19. And if the very stones be worn,19. The waters weare the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth, and thou destroyest the hope of man. and doe waste with the falling of waters upon them, and that the things that are rooted in the earth cannot resist a deluge, but are washt away therewith, what hope then has weake man (such an one as I am) who is neither rocke nor mountaine, stone nor tree, to be able to stand under such an insupportable power, and overwhelming inundation as this of mine?
20. No, it is impossible for him to20. Thou prevailest for ever against him, and hee passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away. sustaine himselfe when thine hand is upon him to destroy him: thou canst not be prevented, but he shall certainly, fade away, he himselfe, and all that behold him shall see him consume by the change that thine afflicting hand worketh in his temperament and feature, till at last hee waste away to nothing.
21. Yea, by reason of his dolour,21. His sonnes come to honour, and he knoweth it not, and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them. even whilest hee yet lives thou canst make him to be as good as dead, so as that hee can regard no earthly thing how neerely soever it concerne him; as for instance, be his children advanced, or be they cast into adversity, shall neither joy nor sorrow in it.
22. But be altogether taken up22. But his flesh upon him shall have paine, and his soule within him shal mourne. with the thoughts and sense of his owne misery, because of the outward paine, which thou laiest upon his body, and the inward trouble which thou inflictest upon his minde at once.