Man who is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and withers; he flees also like a shadow and continues not. And [Lord] do You open Your eyes upon such a one, and bring me into judgment with You? read more.
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one! Since a man's days are already determined, and the number of his months is wholly in Your control, and he cannot pass the bounds of his allotted time -- " [O God] turn from him [and cease to watch him so pitilessly]; let him rest until he has accomplished as does a hireling the appointed time for his day. For there is hope for a tree if it is cut down, that it will sprout again and that the tender shoots of it will not cease. [But there is no such hope for man.] Though its roots grow old in the earth and its stock dies in the ground, Yet through the scent [and breathing] of water [the stump of the tree] will bud and bring forth boughs like a young plant. But [the brave, strong] man must die and lie prostrate; yes, man breathes his last, and where is he?