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
1599 Geneva Bible
17 1 Job sayeth that he consumeth away, and yet doth patiently abide it. 10 He exhorteth his friends to repentance, 13 showing that he looketh out for death.
1 My breath is corrupt: my days are cut off, and the grave is ready for me.
2 There are none but [a]mockers with me, and mine eye continueth in [b]their bitterness.
3 [c]Lay down now, and put me in surety for thee: who is he, that [d]will touch mine hand?
4 For thou hast hid their heart from [e]understanding: therefore shalt thou not set them up on high.
5 [f]For the eyes of his children shall fail, that speaketh flattery to his friends.
6 He hath also made me a [g]byword of the people, and I am as a tabret [h]before them.
7 Mine eye therefore is dim for grief, and all my strength is like a shadow.
8 The righteous shall be astonied at [i]this, and the innocent shall be moved against the hypocrite.
9 But the righteous will hold his [j]way, and he whose hands are pure, shall increase his strength.
10 All [k]you therefore turn you, and come now, and I shall not find one wise among you.
11 My days are past, mine enterprises are broken, and the thoughts of mine heart
12 Have changed the [l]night for the day, and the light that approached, for darkness.
13 Though I hope, [m]yet the grave shall be mine house, and I shall make my bed in the dark.
14 I shall say to corruption, Thou art my [n]father, and to the worm, Thou art my mother and my sister.
15 Where is then now mine hope? or who shall consider the thing that I hoped for?
16 [o]They shall go down into the bottom of the pit: surely it shall lie together in the dust.
Footnotes
- Job 17:2 Instead of comfort, being now at death’s door, he had but them that mocked at him, and discouraged him.
- Job 17:2 I see still that they seek but to vex me.
- Job 17:3 He reasoneth with God as a man beside himself, to the intent that his cause might be brought to light.
- Job 17:3 And answers for thee?
- Job 17:4 That these mine afflictions are thy just judgments, though man know not the cause.
- Job 17:5 He that flattereth a man, and only judgeth him happy in his prosperity, shall not himself only but in his posterity be punished.
- Job 17:6 God hath made all the world to speak of me, because of mine afflictions.
- Job 17:6 That is, as a continual sound in their ears.
- Job 17:8 To wit, when they see the godly punished: but in the end they shalt come to understanding, and know what shall be the reward of the hypocrite.
- Job 17:9 That is, will not be discouraged, considering that the godly are punished as well as the wicked.
- Job 17:10 Job speaketh to them three that came to comfort him.
- Job 17:12 That is, have brought me sorrow instead of comfort.
- Job 17:13 Though I should hope to come from adversity to prosperity, as your discourse pretendeth.
- Job 17:14 I have no more hope in father, mother, sister, or any worldly thing: for the dust and worms shall be to me instead of them.
- Job 17:16 All worldly hope and prosperity fail which you say, are only signs of God’s favor: but seeing that these things perish, I set mine hope in God and in the life everlasting.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
