Job 17
1 My spirit, is broken, My days, are extinguished, Graves, are left me.
“My spirit is broken; my days are extinguished; the grave awaits me.
2 Verily there are mockers, with me! And, on their insults, mine eye doth rest.
Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.
3 Appoint it, I pray thee—be thou surety for me with thyself, Who is there that, on my side, can pledge himself?
Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand. Who else will be my guarantor?
4 For, their heart, hast thou kept back from understanding, On this account, thou wilt not exalt them.
You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore You will not exalt them.
5 He that, for a share, denounceth friends, even, the eyes of his children, shall be dim.
If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail.
6 But he hath set me, as the byword of peoples, And, one to be spit on in the face, do I become.
He has made me a byword among the people, a man in whose face they spit.
7 Therefore hath mine eye become dim from vexation, and, my members, are like a shadow, all of them.
My eyes have grown dim with grief, and my whole body is but a shadow.
8 Upright men shall be astounded over this, and, the innocent, against the impious, shall rouse themselves.
The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent are stirred against the godless.
9 That the righteous may hold on his way, and, the clean of hands, increase in strength.
Yet a righteous one holds to his way, and the one with clean hands grows stronger.
10 But indeed, as for them all, will ye bethink yourselves and enter into it, I pray you? Or shall I not find, among you, one who is wise?
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, the possessions of my heart!
My days have passed; my plans are broken off— even the desires of my heart.
12 Night for day, they appoint, Light, is near, by reason of darkness!
They have turned night into day, making light seem near in the face of darkness.
If I look for Sheol as my home, if I spread out my bed in darkness, (Sheol h7585)
14 To corruption, have exclaimed, My father, thou! My mother! and My sister! to the worm.
and say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
15 Where then would be my hope? And, as for my blessedness, who should see it!
where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?
