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17 “My spirit is consumed.
    My days are extinct,
    and the grave is ready for me.
Surely there are mockers with me.
    My eye dwells on their provocation.

“Now give a pledge. Be collateral for me with yourself.
    Who is there who will strike hands with me?
For you have hidden their heart from understanding,
    Therefore you will not exalt them.
He who denounces his friends for plunder,
    Even the eyes of his children will fail.

“But he has made me a byword of the people.
    They spit in my face.
My eye also is dim by reason of sorrow.
    All my members are as a shadow.
Upright men will be astonished at this.
    The innocent will stir himself up against the godless.
Yet the righteous will hold to his way.
    He who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
10 But as for you all, come back.
    I will not find a wise man among you.
11 My days are past.
    My plans are broken off,
    as are the thoughts of my heart.
12 They change the night into day,
    saying ‘The light is near’ in the presence of darkness.
13 If I look for Sheol[a] as my house,
    if I have spread my couch in the darkness,
14 if I have said to corruption, ‘You are my father;’
    to the worm, ‘My mother,’ and ‘My sister,’
15 where then is my hope?
    As for my hope, who will see it?
16 Shall it go down with me to the gates of Sheol,[b]
    or descend together into the dust?”

Footnotes

  1. 17:13 Sheol is the place of the dead.
  2. 17:16 Sheol is the place of the dead.

Job Continues: Where Then Is My Hope?

17 “My spirit is broken; my days are (A)extinct;
    (B)the graveyard is ready for me.
Surely there are mockers about me,
    and my eye dwells on their (C)provocation.

“Lay down a pledge for me with you;
    who is there who will put up (D)security for me?
Since you have closed their hearts to understanding,
    therefore you will not let them triumph.
He who informs against his friends to get a share of their property—
    the (E)eyes of his children will fail.

“He has made me (F)a byword of the peoples,
    and I am one before whom men spit.
My (G)eye has grown dim from vexation,
    and all my members are like (H)a shadow.
The upright are (I)appalled at this,
    and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless.
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]

Footnotes

  1. Job 17:12 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
  2. Job 17:16 Or Will they go down to the bars of Sheol? Is rest to be found together in the dust?