Job 17

1 “My spirit is broken; my days are extinguished; the grave awaits me.

2 Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.

3 Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand. Who else will be my guarantor?

4 You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore You will not exalt them.

5 If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail.

6 He has made me a byword among the people, a man in whose face they spit.

7 My eyes have grown dim with grief, and my whole body is but a shadow.

8 The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent are stirred against the godless.

9 Yet a righteous one holds to his way, and the one with clean hands grows stronger.

10 But come back and try again, all of you. For I will not find a wise man among you.

11 My days have passed; my plans are broken off—even the desires of my heart.

12 They have turned night into day, making light seem near in the face of darkness.

13 If I look for Sheol as my home, if I spread out my bed in darkness,

14 and say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’

15 where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?

16 Will it go down to the gates of Sheol? Will we go down together into the dust?”

1 ¶ My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves [are ready] for me.

2 [Are there] not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?

3 Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who [is] he [that] will strike hands with me?

4 For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt [them].

5 He that speaketh flattery to [his] friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail.

6 He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret.

7 Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members [are] as a shadow.

8 Upright [men] shall be astonied at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite.

9 The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.

10 ¶ But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for I cannot find [one] wise [man] among you.

11 My days are past, my purposes are broken off, [even] the thoughts of my heart.

12 They change the night into day: the light [is] short because of darkness.

13 If I wait, the grave [is] mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.

14 I have said to corruption, Thou [art] my father: to the worm, [Thou art] my mother, and my sister.

15 And where [is] now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it?

16 They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when [our] rest together [is] in the dust.

1 My breath is weak, and my days are cut short; the grave is come.

2 No man is deceived of me, neither doth mine eye abide in grief because of it.

3 Whether thou wilt have a surety for me, who will pledge for me?

4 Thou hast hid the understanding of their hearts: therefore shalt thou not exalt them.

5 He shall praise the spoil of his friends, but the eyes of his children shall fail.

6 He hath made me a proverb among men, and must be a wonder among them.

7 My form is darkened with grief, and all my limbs are as a shadow.

8 The righteous shall see evil of it, and the innocent shall sit down against the hypocrites.

9 The righteous shall keep his way, and he of clean hands shall be strong.

10 Come now, all of you, and come; for I will not find a wise man among you.

11 My days are passed away, my attempts are cut off, which have possessed my heart,

12 And have made the night day, and the day night.

13 Though I tarry long, yet is hell my house, and in darkness is my bed made.

14 the decay I call my father, and the worms my mother and my sister.

15 What shall I wait for? and who shall respect my hope?

16 Down into hell shall it go, and shall lie with me in the dust.