Job 17
Expanded Bible
17 My spirit is broken;
the days of my life are ·almost gone [extinguished].
The grave is ·waiting [ready] for me.
2 Those who ·laugh [mock; scoff] at me surround me;
·I watch them insult me [L My eye dwells/lodges on their obstinate behavior].
3 “·God, make me a promise [L Make a pledge for me with yourself].
·No one will make a pledge for me [L Who else will clap hands with me; C a gesture that seals an agreement].
4 You have closed their minds to understanding.
·Do not let them win over me [L You will not let them triumph].
5 People might ·speak against [denounce] their friends for ·money [L a share; a piece of property],
but if they do, the eyes of their children ·go blind [L will fade].
6 “God has made my name a ·curse word [L proverb; byword; 1 Kin. 9:7; 2 Chr. 7:20; Ps. 44:14; Jer. 24:9; Ezek. 14:8; Joel 2:17];
people spit in my face.
7 My sight has grown ·weak [dim] because of my ·sadness [grief],
and my ·body [whole frame] is ·as thin as [L like] a shadow.
8 ·Honest [Virtuous] people are ·upset [depressed; desolated] about this;
·innocent [blameless] people are ·upset with [or aroused against] those who ·do wrong [or are godless].
9 But ·those who do right [the righteous] will ·continue to do right [L hold on to their way],
and those whose hands are ·not dirty with sin [L clean; C in a ritual sense] will grow stronger.
10 “But, all of you, come ·and try again [L back now]!
I ·do [or will] not find a wise person among you.
11 My days are gone, and my plans have been ·destroyed [L torn away],
along with the desires of my heart.
12 ·These men think night is [L They make night into] day;
·when it is dark, they say, ‘Light is near [L light is near the darkness].’
13 If the only home I hope for is ·the grave [L Sheol; C the place of the dead],
if I spread out my bed in darkness,
14 if I say to the ·grave [L pit], ‘You are my father,’
and to the worm, ‘You are my mother’ or ‘You are my sister,’
15 where, then, is my hope?
Who can see any hope for me?
16 Will hope go down to the gates of ·death [L Sheol; 17:13]?
Will we go down together into the dust?”
Job 17
New American Standard Bible
Job Says He Has Become a Proverb
17 “My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished,
The [a](A)grave is ready for me.
2 (B)Mockers are certainly with me,
And my eye [b]gazes on their provocation.
3 “Make a pledge (C)for me with Yourself;
Who is there that will [c]be my guarantor?
4 For You have [d](D)kept their hearts away from understanding;
Therefore You will not exalt them.
5 He who (E)informs against friends for a share of the spoils,
The (F)eyes of his children also will perish.
6 “But He has made me a (G)proverb among the people,
And I am [e]one at whom people (H)spit.
7 My eye has also become (I)inexpressive because of grief,
And all my (J)body parts are like a shadow.
8 The upright will be appalled at this,
And the (K)innocent will stir himself up against the godless.
9 Nevertheless (L)the righteous will hold to his way,
And (M)the one who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
10 But come again all of [f]you now,
For I (N)do not find a wise man among you.
11 My (O)days are past, my plans are torn apart,
The wishes of my heart.
12 They make night into day, saying,
‘The light is near,’ in the presence of darkness.
13 If I hope for [g](P)Sheol as my home,
I [h]make my bed in the darkness;
14 If I call to the (Q)grave, ‘You are my father’;
To the (R)maggot, ‘my mother and my sister’;
15 Where then is (S)my hope?
And who looks at my hope?
16 [i]Will it go down with me to Sheol?
Shall we together (T)go down into the dust?”
Footnotes
- Job 17:1 Lit graves are
- Job 17:2 Lit dwells
- Job 17:3 Lit strike hands with me
- Job 17:4 Lit hidden
- Job 17:6 Lit a spitting to the faces
- Job 17:10 As in some mss and ancient versions; MT them
- Job 17:13 I.e., the netherworld
- Job 17:13 Lit spread out
- Job 17:16 As in LXX; Heb possibly Let my limbs sink down to Sheol, since there is rest in the dust for all.
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New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
