Job 17
1 My spirit is broken, my days are cut short, the grave is ready for me.
“My spirit is broken; my days are extinguished; the grave awaits me.
2 Yet truly those that mock are with me, and on their offendings must my eye rest.
Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.
3 And thou, [Creator!] attend, I pray thee, be my surety with thyself: who else is there that would strike hands with me?
Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand. Who else will be my guarantor?
4 For thou hast concealed their heart against intelligence: therefore art thou not exalted [through them].
You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore You will not exalt them.
5 Every one of them speaketh deceptively to his friends: may also the eyes of his children fail.
If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail.
6 And he hath placed me here as a by-word unto nations; and I become openly as a place of abomination.
He has made me a byword among the people, a man in whose face they spit.
7 Therefore is my eye dim from vexation, and my limbs are all of them like a shadow.
My eyes have grown dim with grief, and my whole body is but a shadow.
8 Upright men must be astonished at this, and the innocent must arouse himself against the hypocrite.
The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent are stirred against the godless.
9 Yet will the righteous hold firmly on to his way; and he that is clean of hands will acquire additional strength.
Yet a righteous one holds to his way, and the one with clean hands grows stronger.
10 But all of you, do only return, and come but [to me]: and yet I shall not find among you one wise man.
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 resolves are broken off, [even the thoughts]—the possessions of my heart.
My days have passed; my plans are broken off— even the desires of my heart.
12 These would change the night into day, the light as near in the presence of darkness.—
They have turned night into day, making light seem near in the face of darkness.
13 When I hope for the nether world as my house; in the darkness have I spread my couch; (Sheol h7585)
If I look for Sheol as my home, if I spread out my bed in darkness, (Sheol h7585)
14 When I call to corruption, Thou art my father: Thou art my mother, and my sister, to the worms.
and say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
15 Ay, where is then my hope? as for my hope, who will see it [fulfilled]?
where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?
