Job 17
1 “My spirit has been destroyed, My days extinguished—graves [are] for me.
My spirit shall be wasted, my days shall be shortened, and only the grave remaineth for me.
2 If not—mockeries [are] with me. And my eye lodges in their provocations.
I have not sinned, and my eye abideth in bitterness.
3 Now place my pledge with You; Who is he that strikes hand with me?
Deliver me O Lord, and set me beside thee, and let any man’s hand fight against me.
4 For You have hidden their heart from understanding, Therefore You do not exalt them.
Thou hast set their heart far from understanding, therefore they shall not be exalted.
5 For a portion he shows friendship, And the eyes of his sons are consumed.
He promiseth a prey to his companions, and the eyes of his children shall fail.
6 And He set me up for a proverb of the peoples, And I am a wonder before them.
He hath made me as it were a byword of the people, and I am an example before them.
7 And my eye is dim from sorrow, And my members—all of them—as a shadow.
My eye is dim through indignation, and my limbs are brought as it were to nothing.
8 The upright are astonished at this, and the innocent stirs himself up against the profane.
The just shall be astonished at this, and the innocent shall be raised up against the hypocrite.
9 And the righteous lays hold [on] his way, And the clean of hands adds strength.
And the just man shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.
10 But please return and come in, all of you, And I do not find a wise man among you.
Wherefore be you all converted, and come, and I shall not find among you any wise man.
11 My days have passed by, My plans have been broken off, The possessions of my heart!
My days have passed away, my thoughts are dissipated, tormenting my heart.
12 They appoint night for day, Light [is] near because of darkness.
They have turned night into day, and after darkness I hope for light again.
If I wait hell is my house, and I have made my bed in darkness. (Sheol h7585)
14 To corruption I have called: You [are] my father. To the worm: My mother and my sister.
If I have said to rottenness: Thou art my father; to worms, my mother and my sister.
15 And where [is] my hope now? Indeed, my hope, who beholds it?
Where is now then my expectation, and who considereth my patience?
