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

Job Prays for Relief

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

“Lay down a pledge for me with yourself;
    who is there who will give surety for me?(D)
Since you have closed their minds to understanding,
    therefore you will not let them triumph.(E)
Those who denounce friends for reward—
    the eyes of their children will fail.(F)

“He has made me a byword of the peoples,
    and I am one before whom people spit.(G)
My eye has grown dim from grief,
    and all my members are like a shadow.(H)
The upright are appalled at this,
    and the innocent stir themselves up against the godless.
Yet the righteous hold to their way,
    and they who have clean hands grow stronger and stronger.(I)

22 For when only a few years have elapsed,
    I’ll start down a path from which I’ll never return.”

Job Laments and Prepares for Death

17 “My spirit is crushed,
    my days are over;[a]
        it’s the grave for me!
Mockers surround me;
    I cannot stop staring at their hostility all through the night.
Offer, then, some collateral on my behalf.
    Is there anyone who will be my guarantor?

“Because you’re the one who closed their hearts to compassion;[b]
    therefore, you won’t let them triumph.
Now as for the one who testifies against his friends
    to take their property,[c]
        even the eyes of his children will fail.

“He has made me a byword among people;
    I’m being spit on in the face.
My eyes have grown weak from grief;
    and my whole body is as thin as a shadow.
The upright are appalled over this,
    and the innocent person is troubled by the godless.
But the righteous person will hold to his way,
    and those with clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.”

Footnotes

  1. Job 17:1 Lit. extinguished
  2. Job 17:4 Lit. understanding
  3. Job 17:5 Or inheritance