Job 17
English Standard Version
Job Continues: Where Then Is My Hope?
17 “My spirit is broken; my days are (A)extinct;
(B)the graveyard is ready for me.
2 Surely there are mockers about me,
and my eye dwells on their (C)provocation.
3 “Lay down a pledge for me with you;
who is there who will put up (D)security for me?
4 Since you have closed their hearts to understanding,
therefore you will not let them triumph.
5 He who informs against his friends to get a share of their property—
the (E)eyes of his children will fail.
6 “He has made me (F)a byword of the peoples,
and I am one before whom men spit.
7 My (G)eye has grown dim from vexation,
and all my members are like (H)a shadow.
8 The upright are (I)appalled at this,
and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless.
9 Yet the righteous holds to his way,
and he who has (J)clean hands grows stronger and stronger.
10 But you, (K)come on again, all of you,
and I shall not find a wise man among you.
11 My (L)days are past; my plans are broken off,
the desires of my heart.
12 They (M)make night into day:
‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’[a]
13 If I hope for (N)Sheol as (O)my house,
if I make my bed in darkness,
14 if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’
and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
15 where then is my hope?
Who will see my hope?
16 Will it go down to the bars of (P)Sheol?
Shall we (Q)descend together (R)into the dust?”[b]
Job 17
New Living Translation
Job Continues to Defend His Innocence
17 “My spirit is crushed,
and my life is nearly snuffed out.
The grave is ready to receive me.
2 I am surrounded by mockers.
I watch how bitterly they taunt me.
3 “You must defend my innocence, O God,
since no one else will stand up for me.
4 You have closed their minds to understanding,
but do not let them triumph.
5 They betray their friends for their own advantage,
so let their children faint with hunger.
6 “God has made a mockery of me among the people;
they spit in my face.
7 My eyes are swollen with weeping,
and I am but a shadow of my former self.
8 The virtuous are horrified when they see me.
The innocent rise up against the ungodly.
9 The righteous keep moving forward,
and those with clean hands become stronger and stronger.
10 “As for all of you, come back with a better argument,
though I still won’t find a wise man among you.
11 My days are over.
My hopes have disappeared.
My heart’s desires are broken.
12 These men say that night is day;
they claim that the darkness is light.
13 What if I go to the grave[a]
and make my bed in darkness?
14 What if I call the grave my father,
and the maggot my mother or my sister?
15 Where then is my hope?
Can anyone find it?
16 No, my hope will go down with me to the grave.
We will rest together in the dust!”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
