< Job 17 >
1 My spirit hath been destroyed, My days extinguished — graves [are] for me.
“My spirit is broken; my days are extinguished; the grave awaits me.
2 If not — mockeries [are] with me. And in their provocations mine eye lodgeth.
Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.
3 Place, I pray Thee, my pledge with Thee; Who is he that striketh hand with me?
Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand. Who else will be my guarantor?
4 For their heart Thou hast hidden From understanding, Therefore Thou dost not exalt them.
You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore You will not exalt them.
5 For a portion he sheweth friendship, And the eyes of his sons are consumed.
If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail.
6 And he set me up for a proverb of the peoples, And a wonder before them I am.
He has made me a byword among the people, a man in whose face they spit.
7 And dim from sorrow is mine eye, And my members as a shadow all of them.
My eyes have grown dim with grief, and my whole body is but a shadow.
8 Astonished are the upright at this, And the innocent against the profane Stirreth himself up.
The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent are stirred against the godless.
9 And the righteous layeth hold [on] his way, And the clean of hands addeth strength, And — dumb are they all.
Yet a righteous one holds to his way, and the one with clean hands grows stronger.
10 Return, and come in, I pray you, And I find not among you a wise man.
But come back and try again, all of you. For I will not find a wise man among you.
11 My days have passed by, My devices have been 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 because of darkness.
They have turned night into day, making light seem near in the face of darkness.
13 If I wait — Sheol [is] my house, In darkness I have spread out my couch. (Sheol )
If I look for Sheol as my home, if I spread out my bed in darkness, (Sheol )
14 To corruption I have called: — 'Thou [art] my father.' '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 And where [is] now my hope? Yea, my hope, who doth behold it?
where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?
16 [To] the parts of Sheol ye go down, If together on the dust we may rest. (Sheol )
Will it go down to the gates of Sheol? Will we go down together into the dust?” (Sheol )