Job 17
1 My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves [are ready] for me.
“My spirit has been destroyed, My days extinguished—graves [are] for me.
2 [Are there] not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?
If not—mockeries [are] with me. And my eye lodges in their provocations.
3 Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who [is] he [that] will strike hands with me?
Now place my pledge with You; Who is he that strikes hand with me?
4 For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt [them].
For You have hidden their heart from understanding, Therefore You do not exalt them.
5 He that speaketh flattery to [his] friends, even 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 also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret.
And He set me up for a proverb of the peoples, And I am a wonder before them.
7 Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, 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 astonied at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite.
The upright are astonished at this, and the innocent stirs himself up against the profane.
9 The righteous also 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 But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for I cannot 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, [even] the 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 [is] short because of 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 have said to corruption, Thou [art] my father: to the worm, [Thou art] 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] now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it?
And where [is] my hope now? Indeed, my hope, who beholds it?
