22 For when a few years have come
    I shall go the way (A)from which I shall not return.

Job Continues: Where Then Is My Hope?

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

“Lay down a pledge for me with you;
    who is there who will put up (E)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 (F)eyes of his children will fail.

“He has made me (G)a byword of the peoples,
    and I am one before whom men spit.
My (H)eye has grown dim from vexation,
    and all my members are like (I)a shadow.
The upright are (J)appalled at this,
    and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless.
Yet the righteous holds to his way,
    and he who has (K)clean hands grows stronger and stronger.

22 A number of years will surely pass,
    and then I’ll walk a path that I won’t return.

Another lament

17 My spirit is broken,
    my days extinguished,
    the grave,[a] mine.
Surely mockers are with me,
    and my eye looks on their rebellion.
Take my guarantee.
    Who else is willing to make an agreement?
You’ve closed their mind to insight;
    therefore, you won’t be exalted.
He denounces his friends for gain,
    and his children’s eyes fail.
He makes me a popular proverb;
    I’m like spit in people’s faces.
My eye is weak from grief;
    my limbs like a shadow—all of them.
Those who do the right thing are amazed at this;
    the guiltless become troubled about the godless.
The innocent clings to his way;
    the one whose hands are clean grows stronger.

Footnotes

  1. Job 17:1 Or graves