Job 17
1 My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are mine.
“My spirit has been destroyed, My days extinguished—graves [are] for me.
2 Are there not mockers around me? and doth [not] mine eye abide in their provocation?
If not—mockeries [are] with me. And my eye lodges in their provocations.
3 Lay down now [a pledge], be thou surety for me with thyself: who is he that striketh hands with me?
Now place my pledge with You; Who is he that strikes hand with me?
4 For thou hast hidden their heart from understanding; therefore thou wilt not exalt [them].
For You have hidden their heart from understanding, Therefore You do not exalt them.
5 He that betrayeth friends for a prey — even the eyes of his children shall fail.
For a portion he shows friendship, And the eyes of his sons are consumed.
6 And he hath made me a proverb of the peoples; and I am become one to be spit on in the face.
And He set me up for a proverb of the peoples, And I am a wonder before them.
7 And mine eye is dim by reason of grief, and all my members are as a shadow.
And my eye is dim from sorrow, And my members—all of them—as a shadow.
8 Upright men [shall be] astonished at this, and the innocent shall be stirred up against the ungodly;
The upright are astonished at this, and the innocent stirs himself up against the profane.
9 But the righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall increase in strength.
And the righteous lays hold [on] his way, And the clean of hands adds strength.
10 But as for you all, pray come on again; and I shall not find one wise man among you.
But please return and come in, all of you, And I do not find a wise man among you.
11 My days are past, my purposes are broken off, the cherished thoughts of my heart.
My days have passed by, My plans have been broken off, The possessions of my heart!
12 They change the night into day; the light [they imagine] near in presence of the darkness.
They appoint night for day, Light [is] near because of darkness.
If I wait—Sheol [is] my house, 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!
To corruption I have called: You [are] my father. To the worm: My mother and my sister.
15 And where is then my hope? yea, my hope, who shall see it?
And where [is] my hope now? Indeed, my hope, who beholds it?
