Job 17
1 “My spirit has been destroyed, My days extinguished—graves [are] for me.
My spirit is consumed, my days are extinct, the grave is ready for me.
2 If not—mockeries [are] with me. And my eye lodges in their provocations.
Surely there are mockers with me, and mine eye abideth in their provocation.
3 Now place my pledge with You; Who is he that strikes hand with me?
Give now a pledge, be surety for me with Thyself; who else is there that will strike hands with me?
4 For You have hidden their heart from understanding, Therefore You do not exalt them.
For Thou hast hid their heart from understanding; therefore shalt Thou not exalt them.
5 For a portion he shows friendship, And the eyes of his sons are consumed.
He that denounceth his friends for the sake of flattery, even 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 also a byword of the people; and I am become one in whose face they spit.
7 And my eye is dim from sorrow, And my members—all of them—as a shadow.
Mine eye also is dimmed by reason of vexation, and all my members are as a shadow.
8 The upright are astonished at this, and the innocent stirs himself up against the profane.
Upright men are astonished at this, and the innocent stirreth up himself against the godless.
9 And the righteous lays hold [on] his way, And the clean of hands adds strength.
Yet the righteous holdeth on his way, and he that hath clean hands waxeth stronger and stronger.
10 But please return and come in, all of you, And I do not find a wise man among you.
But as for you all, do ye return, and come now; and I shall not find a wise man among you.
11 My days have passed by, My plans have been broken off, The possessions of my heart!
My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart.
12 They appoint night for day, Light [is] near because of darkness.
They change the night into day; the light is short because of darkness.
If I look for the nether-world as my house; if I have spread my couch in the 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 corruption: 'Thou art my father', to the worm: 'Thou art my mother, and my sister';
15 And where [is] my hope now? Indeed, my hope, who beholds it?
Where then is my hope? And as for my hope, who shall see it?
