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Job Says He Has Become a Byword

17 “My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished,
The grave is ready for me.

“Surely there are mockers and mockery with me,
And my eye gazes on their obstinacy and provocation.


“Give me a pledge (guarantee, promise) with Yourself [acknowledge my innocence before my death];
Who is there that will [a]be my guarantor and give security for me?

“But You [Lord] have closed their hearts to understanding,
Therefore You will not exalt them [by giving a verdict against me].

“He who denounces and informs against his friends for a share of the spoil,
The eyes of his children will also languish and fail.


“But He has made me a byword and mockery among the people,
And I have become one in whose face people spit.

“My eye has grown dim (unexpressive) because of grief,
And all my [body’s] members are [wasted away] like a shadow.

“The upright will be [astonished and] appalled at this,
And the innocent will stir himself up against the godless and polluted.

“Nevertheless the righteous will hold to his ways,
And he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.(A)
10 
“But as for all of you, come back again,
Even though I do not find a wise man among you.
11 
“My days are past, my purposes and plans are frustrated and torn apart;
The wishes of my heart [are broken].
12 
“These [thoughts try to] make the night into the day;
‘The light is near,’ they say in the presence of darkness [but they pervert the truth].
13 
“But if I look to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) as my home,
If I make my bed in the darkness,
14 
If I call out to the pit (grave), ‘You are my father’;
And to the worm [that feeds on decay], ‘You are my mother and my sister [because I will soon be closest to you],’
15 
Where now is my hope?
And who regards or considers or is even concerned about my hope?
16 
“Will my hope go down with me to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead)?
Shall we go down together in the dust?”

Footnotes

  1. Job 17:3 Lit strike hands with me.

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)