Job 17
1 My spirit is consumed, my days are extinct, The grave is [ready] for me.
My spirit will be wasted, my days will be shortened, and only the grave will be left for me.
2 Surely there are mockers with me, And mine eye dwelleth upon their provocation.
I have not sinned, yet my eye remains in bitterness.
3 Give now a pledge, be surety for me with thyself; Who is there that will strike hands with me?
Free me, O Lord, and set me beside you, and let the hand of anyone you wish fight against me.
4 For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: Therefore shalt thou not exalt [them].
You have set their heart far from discipline; therefore, they will not be praised.
5 He that denounceth his friends for a prey, Even the eyes of his children shall fail.
He promises prey to his companions, but the eyes of his sons will grow faint.
6 But he hath made me a byword of the people; And they spit in my face.
He has posted me like a proverb to the people, and I am an example in their presence.
7 Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, And all my members are as a shadow.
My eyesight has been clouded by indignation, and my limbs have been reduced, as if to nothing.
8 Upright men shall be astonished at this, And the innocent shall stir up himself against the godless.
The just will be astounded over this, and the innocent will be stirred up against the hypocrite.
9 Yet shall the righteous hold on his way, And he that hath clean hands shall wax stronger and stronger.
And the just will cling to his way, and clean hands will increase strength.
10 But as for you all, come on now again; And I shall not find a wise man among you.
Therefore, be converted, all of you, and approach, for I do not find in you any wisdom.
11 My days are past, my purposes are broken off, Even the thoughts of my heart.
My days have passed away; my thoughts have been scattered, tormenting my heart.
12 They change the night into day: The light, [say they], is near unto the darkness.
They have turned night into day, and I hope for light again after the darkness.
If I should wait, the underworld is my house, and in darkness I have spread out my bed. (Sheol h7585)
14 If I have said to corruption, Thou art my father; To the worm, [Thou art] my mother, and my sister;
I have said to decay and to worms: “You are my father, my mother, and my sister.”
15 Where then is my hope? And as for my hope, who shall see it?
Therefore, where is my expectation now, and who is it that considers my patience?
