Job 17
1 My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are mine.
My spirit will be wasted, my days will be shortened, and only the grave will be left for me.
2 Are there not mockers around me? and doth [not] mine eye abide in their provocation?
I have not sinned, yet my eye remains in bitterness.
3 Lay down now [a pledge], be thou surety for me with thyself: who is he that striketh 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 hidden their heart from understanding; therefore thou wilt not exalt [them].
You have set their heart far from discipline; therefore, they will not be praised.
5 He that betrayeth 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 And he hath made me a proverb of the peoples; and I am become one to be spit on in the face.
He has posted me like a proverb to the people, and I am an example in their presence.
7 And mine eye is dim by reason of grief, 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 be stirred up against the ungodly;
The just will be astounded over this, and the innocent will be stirred up against the hypocrite.
9 But the righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall increase in strength.
And the just will cling to his way, and clean hands will increase strength.
10 But as for you all, pray come on again; and I shall not find one 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, the cherished 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 [they imagine] near in presence of 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 I cry to the grave, Thou art my father! to the worm, My mother, and my sister!
I have said to decay and to worms: “You are my father, my mother, and my sister.”
15 And where is then my hope? yea, my hope, who shall see it?
Therefore, where is my expectation now, and who is it that considers my patience?
