< 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 h7585)
If I look for Sheol as my home, if I spread out my bed in darkness, (Sheol h7585)
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 h7585)
Will it go down to the gates of Sheol? Will we go down together into the dust?” (Sheol h7585)

< Job 17 >