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 For only a few years will pass
before I go the way of no return.

17 My spirit is broken.
My days are extinguished.
A graveyard(A) awaits me.
Surely mockers surround[a] me,
and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.(B)

Accept my pledge! Put up security for me.(C)
Who else will be my sponsor?[b]
You have closed their minds to understanding,
therefore you will not honor them.
If a man denounces his friends for a price,
the eyes of his children will fail.

He has made me an object of scorn to the people;
I have become a man people spit at.[c](D)
My eyes have grown dim from grief,
and my whole body has become but a shadow.
The upright are appalled(E) at this,
and the innocent are roused against the godless.
Yet the righteous person will hold to his way,
and the one whose hands are clean(F) will grow stronger.

Footnotes

  1. 17:2 Lit are with
  2. 17:3 Or Who is there that will shake hands with me?
  3. 17:6 Lit become a spitting to the faces