< Job 17 >

1 My spirit shall be wasted, my days shall be shortened, and only the grave remaineth for me.
“My spirit has been destroyed, My days extinguished—graves [are] for me.
2 I have not sinned, and my eye abideth in bitterness.
If not—mockeries [are] with me. And my eye lodges in their provocations.
3 Deliver me O Lord, and set me beside thee, and let any man’s hand fight against me.
Now place my pledge with You; Who is he that strikes hand with me?
4 Thou hast set their heart far from understanding, therefore they shall not be exalted.
For You have hidden their heart from understanding, Therefore You do not exalt them.
5 He promiseth a prey to his companions, and the eyes of his children shall fail.
For a portion he shows friendship, And the eyes of his sons are consumed.
6 He hath made me as it were a byword of the people, and I am an example before them.
And He set me up for a proverb of the peoples, And I am a wonder before them.
7 My eye is dim through indignation, and my limbs are brought as it were to nothing.
And my eye is dim from sorrow, And my members—all of them—as a shadow.
8 The just shall be astonished at this, and the innocent shall be raised up against the hypocrite.
The upright are astonished at this, and the innocent stirs himself up against the profane.
9 And the just man shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.
And the righteous lays hold [on] his way, And the clean of hands adds strength.
10 Wherefore be you all converted, and come, and I shall not find among you any wise man.
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 are dissipated, 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 after darkness I hope for light again.
They appoint night for day, Light [is] near because of darkness.
13 If I wait hell is my house, and I have made my bed in darkness. (Sheol h7585)
If I wait—Sheol [is] my house, In darkness I have spread out my bed. (Sheol h7585)
14 If I have said to rottenness: Thou art my father; to worms, my mother and my sister.
To corruption I have called: You [are] my father. To the worm: My mother and my sister.
15 Where is now then my expectation, and who considereth my patience?
And where [is] my hope now? Indeed, my hope, who beholds it?
16 All that I have shall go down into the deepest pit: thinkest thou that there at least I shall have rest? (Sheol h7585)
You go down [to] the parts of Sheol, If we may rest together on the dust.” (Sheol h7585)

< Job 17 >