6 So leave us alone and let us rest!We are like hired hands, so let us finish our work in peace.
7 “Even a tree has more hope!If it is cut down, it will sprout againand grow new branches.
8 Though its roots have grown old in the earthand its stump decays,
9 at the scent of water it will budand sprout again like a new seedling.
10 “But when people die, their strength is gone.They breathe their last, and then where are they?
11 As water evaporates from a lakeand a river disappears in drought,
12 people are laid to rest and do not rise again.Until the heavens are no more, they will not wake upnor be roused from their sleep.