< Job 17 >
1 My spirit is consumed, my days are extinct, the grave is ready for me.
My spirit is consumed, and my days are over; the grave is ready for me.
2 Surely there are mockers with me, and my eye dwells upon their provocation.
Surely there are mockers with me; my eye must always see their provocation.
3 Give now a pledge, be surety for me with thyself. Who is there that will strike hands with me?
Give now a pledge, be a guarantee for me with yourself; who else is there who will help me?
4 For thou have hid their heart from understanding. Therefore thou shall not exalt them.
For you, God, have kept their hearts from understanding; therefore, you will not exalt them over me.
5 He who denounces his friends for a prey, even the eyes of his sons shall fail.
He who denounces his friends for a reward, the eyes of his children will fail.
6 But he has made me a byword of the people, and they spit in my face.
But he has made me a byword of the people; they spit in my face.
7 My eye also is dim because of sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow.
My eye is also dim because of sorrow; all my body parts are as thin as shadows.
8 Upright men shall be astonished at this, and the innocent shall stir himself up against the profane.
Upright men will be stunned by this; the innocent man will stir himself up against godless men.
9 Yet the righteous shall hold on his way. And he who has clean hands shall grow stronger and stronger.
The righteous man will keep to his way; he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
10 But as for you all, come on now again, and I shall not find a wise man among you.
But as for you all, come on now; I will not find a wise man among you.
11 My days are past. My purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart.
My days are past; my plans are shattered, and so are the desires of my heart.
12 They change the night into day. The light, they say, is near to the darkness.
These people, these mockers, change the night into day; light is near to darkness.
13 If I look for Sheol as my house, if I have spread my couch in the darkness, (Sheol )
If the only home I hope for is Sheol; and if I have spread my couch in the darkness; (Sheol )
14 if I have said to corruption, Thou are my father, to the worm, My mother, and my sister,
and if I have said to the pit, 'You are my father,' and to the worm, 'You are my mother or my sister,'
15 where then is my hope? And as for my hope, who shall see it?
where then is my hope? As for my hope, who can see any?
16 It shall go down to the bars of Sheol when once there is rest in the dust. (Sheol )
Will hope go down with me to the gates of Sheol when we descend to the dust?” (Sheol )