Job 17
Modern English Version
Job Prays for Relief
17 “My spirit is broken,
my days are extinguished,
the grave is ready for me.
2 Are not mockers with me?
And does not my eye dwell on their provocation?
3 “Now put down a pledge for me with Yourself.
Who is he who will shake hands with me?
4 For You have hidden their heart from understanding.
Therefore will You not exalt them.
5 He who speaks flattery to his friends,
even the eyes of his children will fail.
6 “And He has made me a byword of the people,
someone in whose face they spit.
7 My eye also is dim because of sorrow,
and all my members are like a shadow.
8 Upright men will be astonished at this,
and the innocent will stir up himself against the hypocrite.
9 The righteous also will hold to his way,
and he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger.
10 “But as for you all, return and come now,
for I cannot find one wise man among you.
11 My days are past, my purposes are broken off,
even the thoughts of my heart.
12 They change the night into day;
the light is short because of darkness.
13 If I wait, the grave is my house;
I have made my bed in the darkness.
14 I have said to the pit, ‘You are my father’;
to the worm, ‘You are my mother and my sister.’
15 Where now is my hope?
As for my hope, who will see it?
16 Will they go down to the gates of Sheol?
Will we descend together in the dust?”
Job 17
Lexham English Bible
Job’s Fifth Speech, Continued
17 “My spirit is pulled down; my days are extinguished;
the graveyard is for me.
2 Surely[a] mockery is with me,
and my eye rests[b] on their provocation.
3 Please lay down a pledge for me with yourself;
who is he who will give security for my hand?[c]
4 Indeed,[d] you have closed their mind from understanding;
therefore, you will not let them triumph.
5 He denounces friends for reward,
so[e] his children’s eyes will fail.
6 “And he has made me a proverb for[f] the peoples,
and I am one before whom people spit.[g]
7 And my eye has grown dim from grief,
and the limbs of my body are all[h] like a shadow.
8 The upright are appalled at this,
and the innocent excites himself over the godless.
9 But[i] the righteous holds on to his way,
and he who has clean hands[j] increases in strength.
10 But[k] all of you must return[l]—please come![m]
But[n] I shall not find a wise person among you.
11 “My days are past; my plans are broken down—
even the desires of my heart.
12 They make night into day,
saying, ‘Light is near to darkness.’[o]
13 If I hope for Sheol as my house,
if I spread my couch in the darkness,
14 if I call to the pit, ‘You are my father,’
to the maggot, ‘You are my mother or[p] my sister,’
15 where[q] then is my hope?
And who will see my hope?[r]
16 Will they go down to the bars of Sheol?
Or shall we descend together into the dust?”
Footnotes
- Job 17:2 Literally “If not”
- Job 17:2 Literally “spends the night”
- Job 17:3 Or “who will give security for me?”
- Job 17:4 Or “For”
- Job 17:5 Hebrew “and”
- Job 17:6 Hebrew “of”
- Job 17:6 Literally “and spitting to the faces I am”
- Job 17:7 Hebrew “all of them”
- Job 17:9 Hebrew “And”
- Job 17:9 Literally “the clean of hands”
- Job 17:10 Literally “And but”
- Job 17:10 Literally “all of them you must return”
- Job 17:10 Literally “and please come,” or “come on!”
- Job 17:10 Hebrew “And”
- Job 17:12 Literally “near from the faces of darkness”
- Job 17:14 Or “and”
- Job 17:15 Hebrew “and where”
- Job 17:15 Literally “my hope who will see it”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
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