Job 17
1 “My spirit is broken; my days are extinguished; the grave awaits me.
My spirit is broken, my days are ended, the last resting-place is ready for me.
2 Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.
Truly, those who make sport of me are round about me, and my eyes become dark because of their bitter laughing.
3 Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand. Who else will be my guarantor?
Be pleased, now, to be responsible for me to yourself; for there is no other who will put his hand in mine.
4 You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore You will not exalt them.
You have kept their hearts from wisdom: for this cause you will not give them honour.
5 If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail.
As for him who is false to his friend for a reward, light will be cut off from the eyes of his children.
6 He has made me a byword among the people, a man in whose face they spit.
He has made me a word of shame to the peoples; I have become a mark for their sport.
7 My eyes have grown dim with grief, and my whole body is but a shadow.
My eyes have become dark because of my pain, and all my body is wasted to a shade.
8 The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent are stirred against the godless.
The upright are surprised at this, and he who has done no wrong is troubled because of the evil-doers.
9 Yet a righteous one holds to his way, and the one with clean hands grows stronger.
Still the upright keeps on his way, and he who has clean hands gets new strength.
10 But come back and try again, all of you. For I will not find a wise man among you.
But come back, now, all of you, come; and I will not see a wise man among you.
11 My days have passed; my plans are broken off— even the desires of my heart.
My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the desires of my heart.
12 They have turned night into day, making light seem near in the face of darkness.
They are changing night into day; they say, The light is near the dark.
If I am waiting for the underworld as my house, if I have made my bed in the dark; (Sheol h7585)
14 and say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
If I say to the earth, You are my father; and to the worm, My mother and my sister;
15 where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?
Where then is my hope? and who will see my desire?
