Job 17
1 My spirit is consumed, my days are extinct, the grave is ready for me.
“My spirit is broken; my days are extinguished; the grave awaits me.
2 Surely there are mockers with me, and mine eye abideth in their provocation.
Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.
3 Give now a pledge, be surety for me with Thyself; who else is there that will strike hands with me?
Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand. Who else will be my guarantor?
4 For Thou hast hid their heart from understanding; therefore shalt Thou not exalt them.
You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore You will not exalt them.
5 He that denounceth his friends for the sake of flattery, even the eyes of his children shall fail.
If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail.
6 He hath made me also a byword of the people; and I am become one in whose face they spit.
He has made me a byword among the people, a man in whose face they spit.
7 Mine eye also is dimmed by reason of vexation, and all my members are as a shadow.
My eyes have grown dim with grief, and my whole body is but a shadow.
8 Upright men are astonished at this, and the innocent stirreth up himself against the godless.
The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent are stirred against the godless.
9 Yet the righteous holdeth on his way, and he that hath clean hands waxeth stronger and stronger.
Yet a righteous one holds to his way, and the one with clean hands grows stronger.
10 But as for you all, do ye return, and come now; and I shall not find a wise man among you.
But come back and try again, all of you. For I will not find a wise man among you.
11 My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart.
My days have passed; my plans are broken off— even the desires of my heart.
12 They change the night into day; the light is short because of darkness.
They have turned night into day, making light seem near in the face of darkness.
13 If I look for the nether-world as my house; if I have spread my couch in the darkness; (Sheol h7585)
If I look for Sheol as my home, if I spread out my bed in darkness, (Sheol h7585)
14 If I have said to corruption: 'Thou art my father', to the worm: 'Thou art my mother, and my sister';
and say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
15 Where then is my hope? And as for my hope, who shall see it?
where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?
