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17 The end of my life is near. I can hardly breathe;
    there is nothing left for me but the grave.
I watch how bitterly everyone mocks me.
I am being honest, God. Accept my word.
    There is no one else to support what I say.
You have closed their minds to reason;
    don't let them triumph over me now.
In the old proverb someone betrays his friends for money,
    and his children suffer for it.[a]
And now people use this proverb against me;
    they come and spit in my face.
My grief has almost made me blind;
    my arms and legs are as thin as shadows.
Those who claim to be honest are shocked,
    and they all condemn me as godless.
Those who claim to be respectable
    are more and more convinced they are right.
10 But if all of them came and stood before me,
    I would not find even one of them wise.

11 My days have passed; my plans have failed;
    my hope is gone.
12 But my friends say night is daylight;
    they say that light is near,
    but I know I remain in darkness.
13 My only hope is the world of the dead,
    where I will lie down to sleep in the dark.
14 I will call the grave my father,
    and the worms that eat me
    I will call my mother and my sisters.
15 Where is there any hope for me?
    Who sees any?
16 Hope will not go with me[b]
    when I go down to the world of the dead.

Footnotes

  1. Job 17:5 someone … suffer for it; or someone entertains his friends while his children go hungry.
  2. Job 17:16 One ancient translation with me; Hebrew unclear.

17 My spirit(A) is broken,
    my days are cut short,(B)
    the grave awaits me.(C)
Surely mockers(D) surround me;(E)
    my eyes must dwell on their hostility.

“Give me, O God, the pledge you demand.(F)
    Who else will put up security(G) for me?(H)
You have closed their minds to understanding;(I)
    therefore you will not let them triumph.
If anyone denounces their friends for reward,(J)
    the eyes of their children will fail.(K)

“God has made me a byword(L) to everyone,(M)
    a man in whose face people spit.(N)
My eyes have grown dim with grief;(O)
    my whole frame is but a shadow.(P)
The upright are appalled at this;
    the innocent are aroused(Q) against the ungodly.
Nevertheless, the righteous(R) will hold to their ways,
    and those with clean hands(S) will grow stronger.(T)

10 “But come on, all of you, try again!
    I will not find a wise man among you.(U)
11 My days have passed,(V) my plans are shattered.
    Yet the desires of my heart(W)
12 turn night into day;(X)
    in the face of the darkness light is near.(Y)
13 If the only home I hope for is the grave,(Z)
    if I spread out my bed(AA) in the realm of darkness,(AB)
14 if I say to corruption,(AC) ‘You are my father,’
    and to the worm,(AD) ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister,’
15 where then is my hope—(AE)
    who can see any hope for me?(AF)
16 Will it go down to the gates of death?(AG)
    Will we descend together into the dust?”(AH)