Job 17
1 “My spirit is broken; my days are extinguished; the grave awaits me.
My spirit is consumed, and my days are over; the grave is ready for me.
2 Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.
Surely there are mockers with me; my eye must always see their provocation.
3 Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand. Who else will be my guarantor?
Give now a pledge, be a guarantee for me with yourself; who else is there who will help me?
4 You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore You will not exalt them.
For you, God, have kept their hearts from understanding; therefore, you will not exalt them over me.
5 If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail.
He who denounces his friends for a reward, the eyes of his children will fail.
6 He has made me a byword among the people, a man in whose face they spit.
But he has made me a byword of the people; they spit in my face.
7 My eyes have grown dim with grief, and my whole body is but a shadow.
My eye is also dim because of sorrow; all my body parts are as thin as shadows.
8 The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent are stirred against the godless.
Upright men will be stunned by this; the innocent man will stir himself up against godless men.
9 Yet a righteous one holds to his way, and the one with clean hands grows stronger.
The righteous man will keep to his way; he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
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, come on now; I will not find 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 plans are shattered, and so are the desires of my heart.
12 They have turned night into day, making light seem near in the face of darkness.
These people, these mockers, change the night into day; light is near to darkness.
If the only home I hope for is Sheol; and if I have spread my couch in the darkness; (Sheol h7585)
14 and say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘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? Who can see any hope for me?
where then is my hope? As for my hope, who can see any?
