Job 17
1 My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are mine.
My spirit is consumed, and my days are over; the grave is ready for me.
2 Are there not mockers around me? and doth [not] mine eye abide in their provocation?
Surely there are mockers with me; my eye must always see their provocation.
3 Lay down now [a pledge], be thou surety for me with thyself: who is he that striketh hands with me?
Give now a pledge, be a guarantee for me with yourself; who else is there who will help me?
4 For thou hast hidden their heart from understanding; therefore thou wilt not exalt [them].
For you, God, have kept their hearts from understanding; therefore, you will not exalt them over me.
5 He that betrayeth friends for a prey — even the eyes of his children shall fail.
He who denounces his friends for a reward, the eyes of his children will fail.
6 And he hath made me a proverb of the peoples; and I am become one to be spit on in the face.
But he has made me a byword of the people; they spit in my face.
7 And mine eye is dim by reason of grief, and all my members are as a shadow.
My eye is also dim because of sorrow; all my body parts are as thin as shadows.
8 Upright men [shall be] astonished at this, and the innocent shall be stirred up against the ungodly;
Upright men will be stunned by this; the innocent man will stir himself up against godless men.
9 But the righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall increase in strength.
The righteous man will keep to his way; he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
10 But as for you all, pray come on again; and I shall not find one wise man among you.
But as for you all, come on now; I will 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 are past; my plans are shattered, and so are the desires of my heart.
12 They change the night into day; the light [they imagine] near in presence of the 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 I cry to the grave, Thou art my father! to the worm, My mother, and 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 And where is then my hope? yea, my hope, who shall see it?
where then is my hope? As for my hope, who can see any?
