Job 17
1 “My spirit is broken; my days are extinguished; the grave awaits me.
My breath is exhausted; My days are at an end; The grave is ready for me.
2 Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.
Are not revilers before me? And doth not my eye dwell upon their provocations?
3 Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand. Who else will be my guarantor?
Give a pledge, I pray thee; be thou a surety for me with thee; Who is he that will strike hands with me?
4 You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore You will not exalt them.
Behold, thou hast blinded their understanding; Therefore thou wilt not suffer them to prevail.
5 If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail.
He who delivereth up his friends as a prey, —The eyes of his children shall fail.
6 He has made me a byword among the people, a man in whose face they spit.
He made me the by-word of the people; Yea, I have become their abhorrence.
7 My eyes have grown dim with grief, and my whole body is but a shadow.
My eye therefore is dim with sorrow, And all my limbs are as a shadow.
8 The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent are stirred against the godless.
Upright men will be astonished at this, And the innocent will rouse themselves against the wicked.
9 Yet a righteous one holds to his way, and the one with clean hands grows stronger.
The righteous will also hold on his way, And he that hath clean hands will gather strength.
10 But come back and try again, all of you. For I will not find a wise man among you.
But as for you all, return, I pray! I find not yet among you one wise man.
11 My days have passed; my plans are broken off— even the desires of my heart.
My days are at an end; My plans are broken off; Even the treasures of my heart.
12 They have turned night into day, making light seem near in the face of darkness.
Night hath become day to me; The light bordereth on darkness.
Yea, I look to the grave as my home; I have made my bed in darkness. (Sheol h7585)
14 and say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
I say to the pit, Thou art 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? Yea, my hope, who shall see it?
