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Job Seeks Hope

17 “My spirit is broken; my days are extinguished;
The [a](A)grave is ready for me.
(B)Surely mockers are with me,
And my eye [b]gazes on their provocation.

“Establish, now, a pledge (C)for me with Yourself;
Who is there that will clap my hand in pledge?
For You have (D)hidden their heart from insight,
Therefore You will not exalt them.
He who (E)informs against friends for a share of the spoil,
The (F)eyes of his children also will come to an end.

“But He has made me a (G)byword of the people,
And I am [c]one at whom men (H)spit.
My eye has also grown (I)dim because of grief,
And all my (J)members are as a shadow.
The upright will be appalled at this,
And the (K)innocent will stir up himself against the godless.
Nevertheless (L)the righteous will hold to his way,
And (M)he who has clean hands will grow mightier and mightier.
10 But come again all of [d]you now,
For I (N)do not find a wise man among you.
11 My (O)days are past; my plans are torn apart,
Even 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 (P)Sheol as my home,
I [e]make my bed in the darkness;
14 If I call to the (Q)pit, ‘You are my father’;
To the (R)worm, ‘my mother and my sister’;
15 Where now is (S)my hope?
And who beholds my hope?
16 [f]Will it go down with me to Sheol?
Shall we together (T)go down into the dust?”

Footnotes

  1. Job 17:1 Lit graves
  2. Job 17:2 Lit lodges
  3. Job 17:6 Lit a spitting to the faces
  4. Job 17:10 As in some ancient mss and versions; M.T. them
  5. Job 17:13 Lit spread out
  6. Job 17:16 As in Gr; Heb possibly Let my limbs sink down to Sheol, since there is rest in the dust for all

17 My spirit is consumed, my days are extinct,
The grave is ready for me.
Surely there are [a]mockers with me,
And mine eye dwelleth upon their provocation.

Give now a pledge, be surety for me with thyself;
Who is there that will strike hands with me?
For thou hast hid their heart from understanding:
Therefore shalt thou not exalt them.
He that denounceth his friends for a [b]prey,
Even the eyes of his children shall fail.

But he hath made me a byword of the people;
And they spit in my face.
Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow,
And all my members are as a shadow.
Upright men shall be astonished at this,
And the innocent shall stir up himself against the godless.
Yet shall the righteous hold on his way,
And he that hath clean hands shall wax stronger and stronger.
10 But as for you all, come on now again;
[c]And I shall not find a wise man among you.
11 My days are past, my purposes are broken off,
Even the [d]thoughts of my heart.
12 They change the night into day:
The light, say they, is near [e]unto the darkness.
13 If I [f]look for Sheol as my house;
If I have spread my couch in the darkness;
14 If I have said to [g]corruption, Thou art my father;
To the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister;
15 Where then is my hope?
And as for my hope, who shall see it?
16 It shall go down to the bars of Sheol,
When once there is rest in the dust.

Footnotes

  1. Job 17:2 Hebrew mockery.
  2. Job 17:5 Hebrew portion.
  3. Job 17:10 Or, For I find not
  4. Job 17:11 Hebrew possessions.
  5. Job 17:12 Or, because of
  6. Job 17:13 Or, hope, Sheol is my house; I have spread . . . I have said . . . And where now is my hope?
  7. Job 17:14 Or, the pit