Job 17
New King James Version
Job Prays for Relief
17 “My spirit is broken,
My days are extinguished,
(A)The grave is ready for me.
2 Are not mockers with me?
And does not my eye [a]dwell on their (B)provocation?
3 “Now put down a pledge for me with Yourself.
Who is he who (C)will shake hands with me?
4 For You have hidden their heart from (D)understanding;
Therefore You will not exalt them.
5 He who speaks flattery to his friends,
Even the eyes of his children will (E)fail.
6 “But He has made me (F)a byword of the people,
And I have become one in whose face men spit.
7 (G)My eye has also grown dim because of sorrow,
And all my members are like shadows.
8 Upright men are astonished at this,
And the innocent stirs himself up against the hypocrite.
9 Yet the righteous will hold to his (H)way,
And he who has (I)clean hands will be stronger and stronger.
10 “But please, (J)come back again, [b]all of you,
For I shall not find one wise man among you.
11 (K)My days are past,
My purposes are broken off,
Even the [c]thoughts of my heart.
12 They change the night into day;
‘The light is near,’ they say, in the face of darkness.
13 If I wait for the grave as my house,
If I make my bed in the darkness,
14 If I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’
And to the worm, ‘You are my mother and my sister,’
15 Where then is my (L)hope?
As for my hope, who can see it?
16 Will they go down (M)to the gates of [d]Sheol?
Shall we have (N)rest 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”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software