Job 17
1 My spirit hath been destroyed, My days extinguished — graves [are] for me.
My spirit is crushed; my life is extinguished; the grave is ready for me.
2 If not — mockeries [are] with me. And in their provocations mine eye lodgeth.
Mockers surround me. I see how bitterly they ridicule me.
3 Place, I pray Thee, my pledge with Thee; Who is he that striketh hand with me?
God, you need to put down a pledge for me with yourself, for 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, so do not let them win!
5 For a portion he sheweth friendship, And the eyes of his sons are consumed.
They betray friends to gain benefit for themselves and their children suffer for it.
6 And he set me up for a proverb of the peoples, And a wonder before them I am.
He has made me a proverb of ridicule among the people; they spit in my face.
7 And dim from sorrow is mine eye, And my members as a shadow all of them.
My eyes are worn out from crying and my body is a shadow of its former self.
8 Astonished are the upright at this, And the innocent against the profane Stirreth himself up.
People who think they are good are shocked to see me. Those who are innocent are troubled by the godless.
9 And the righteous layeth hold [on] his way, And the clean of hands addeth strength, And — dumb are they all.
Those who are right keep going, and those whose hands are clean grow stronger and stronger.
10 Return, and come in, I pray you, And I find not among you a wise man.
Why don't you come back and repeat again what you've been saying?—yet I still won't find a wise man among you!
11 My days have passed by, My devices have been broken off, The possessions of my heart!
My life is over. My plans are gone. My heart is broken.
12 Night for day they appoint, Light [is] near because of darkness.
They turn night into day, and say that daylight is close to darkness.
What am I looking for? To make my home in Sheol, to make my bed in darkness? (Sheol h7585)
14 To corruption I have called: — 'Thou [art] my father.' 'My mother' and 'my sister' — to the worm.
Should I call the grave my father, and the maggot my mother or my sister?
15 And where [is] now my hope? Yea, my hope, who doth behold it?
So then where is my hope? Can anyone see any hope for me?
