Job 17
1 My spirit will be wasted, my days will be shortened, and only the grave will be left for me.
“My spirit has been destroyed, My days extinguished—graves [are] for me.
2 I have not sinned, yet my eye remains in bitterness.
If not—mockeries [are] with me. And my eye lodges in their provocations.
3 Free me, O Lord, and set me beside you, and let the hand of anyone you wish fight against me.
Now place my pledge with You; Who is he that strikes hand with me?
4 You have set their heart far from discipline; therefore, they will not be praised.
For You have hidden their heart from understanding, Therefore You do not exalt them.
5 He promises prey to his companions, but the eyes of his sons will grow faint.
For a portion he shows friendship, And the eyes of his sons are consumed.
6 He has posted me like a proverb to the people, and I am an example in their presence.
And He set me up for a proverb of the peoples, And I am a wonder before them.
7 My eyesight has been clouded by indignation, and my limbs have been reduced, as if to nothing.
And my eye is dim from sorrow, And my members—all of them—as a shadow.
8 The just will be astounded over this, and the innocent will be stirred up against the hypocrite.
The upright are astonished at this, and the innocent stirs himself up against the profane.
9 And the just will cling to his way, and clean hands will increase strength.
And the righteous lays hold [on] his way, And the clean of hands adds strength.
10 Therefore, be converted, all of you, and approach, for I do not find in you any wisdom.
But please return and come in, all of you, And I do not find a wise man among you.
11 My days have passed away; my thoughts have been scattered, tormenting my heart.
My days have passed by, My plans have been broken off, The possessions of my heart!
12 They have turned night into day, and I hope for light again after the darkness.
They appoint night for day, Light [is] near because of darkness.
13 If I should wait, the underworld is my house, and in darkness I have spread out my bed. (Sheol h7585)
If I wait—Sheol [is] my house, In darkness I have spread out my bed. (Sheol h7585)
14 I have said to decay and to worms: “You are my father, my mother, and my sister.”
To corruption I have called: You [are] my father. To the worm: My mother and my sister.
15 Therefore, where is my expectation now, and who is it that considers my patience?
And where [is] my hope now? Indeed, my hope, who beholds it?
