Job 17-20

New American Standard Bible 1995

³ “Lay down, now, a pledge ^(C)for me with Yourself;
Who is there that will ^[c]be my guarantor?
⁴ “For You have ^[d](D)kept their heart from understanding,
Therefore You will not exalt them.
⁵ “He who ^(E)informs against friends for a share of the spoil,
The ^(F)eyes of his children also will languish.

⁶ “But He has made me a ^(G)byword of the people,
And I am ^[e]one at whom men ^(H)spit.
⁷ “My eye has also grown ^(I)dim because of grief,
And all my ^(J)members are as a shadow.
⁸ “The upright will be appalled at this,
And the ^(K)innocent will stir up himself against the godless.
⁹ “Nevertheless ^(L)the righteous will hold to his way,
And ^(M)he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
¹⁰ “But come again all of ^[f]you now,
For I ^(N)do not find a wise man among you.
¹¹ “My ^(O)days are past, my plans are torn apart,
Even the wishes of my heart.
¹² “They make night into day, saying,
‘The light is near,’ in the presence of darkness.
¹³ “If I look for ^(P)Sheol as my home,
I ^[g]make my bed in the darkness;
¹⁴ If I call to the ^(Q)pit, ‘You are my father’;
To the ^(R)worm, ‘my mother and my sister’;
¹⁵ Where now is ^(S)my hope?
And who regards my hope?
¹⁶ “^[h]Will it go down with me to Sheol?
Shall we together ^(T)go down into the dust?”

⁵ “Indeed, the ^(V)light of the wicked goes out,
And the ^[k]flame of his fire gives no light.
⁶ “The light in his tent is ^(W)darkened,
And his lamp goes out above him.
⁷ “His ^[l]vigorous stride is shortened,
And his ^(X)own scheme brings him down.
⁸ “For he is ^(Y)thrown into the net by his own feet,
And he steps on the webbing.
⁹ “A snare seizes him by the heel,
And a trap snaps shut on him.
¹⁰ “A noose for him is hidden in the ground,
And a trap for him on the path.
¹¹ “All around ^(Z)terrors frighten him,
And ^(AA)harry him at every step.
¹² “His strength is ^(AB)famished,
And calamity is ready at his side.
¹³ “^[m]His skin is devoured by disease,
The firstborn of death ^(AC)devours his ^[n]limbs.
¹⁴ “He is ^(AD)torn from ^[o]the security of his tent,
And ^[p]they march him before the king of ^(AE)terrors.
¹⁵ “^[q]There dwells in his tent nothing of his;
^(AF)Brimstone is scattered on his habitation.
¹⁶ “His ^(AG)roots are dried below,
And his ^(AH)branch is cut off above.
¹⁷ “^(AI)Memory of him perishes from the earth,
And he has no name abroad.
¹⁸ “^[r]He is driven from light ^(AJ)into darkness,
And ^(AK)chased from the inhabited world.
¹⁹ “He has no ^(AL)offspring or posterity among his people,
Nor any survivor where he sojourned.
²⁰ “Those ^[s]in the west are appalled at ^(AM)his ^[t]fate,
And those ^[u]in the east are seized with horror.
²¹ “Surely such are the ^(AN)dwellings of the wicked,
And this is the place of him who does not know God.”

¹³ “He has ^(BD)removed my brothers far from me,
And my ^(BE)acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
¹⁴ “My relatives have failed,
And my ^(BF)intimate friends have forgotten me.
¹⁵ “Those who live in my house and my maids consider me a stranger.
I am a foreigner in their sight.
¹⁶ “I call to my servant, but he does not answer;
I have to implore him with my mouth.
¹⁷ “My breath is ^[y]offensive to my wife,
And I am loathsome to my own brothers.
¹⁸ “Even young children despise me;
I rise up and they speak against me.
¹⁹ “All ^[z]my ^(BG)associates abhor me,
And those I love have turned against me.
²⁰ “My ^(BH)bone clings to my skin and my flesh,
And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
²¹ “Pity me, pity me, O you my friends,
For the ^(BI)hand of God has struck me.
²² “Why do you ^(BJ)persecute me as God does,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?

¹² “Though ^(CF)evil is sweet in his mouth
And he hides it under his tongue,
¹³ Though he ^[ao]desires it and will not let it go,
But holds it ^(CG)in his ^[ap]mouth,
¹⁴ Yet his food in his stomach is changed
To the ^[aq]venom of cobras within him.
¹⁵ “He swallows riches,
But will ^(CH)vomit them up;
God will expel them from his belly.
¹⁶ “He sucks ^(CI)the poison of cobras;
The viper’s tongue slays him.
¹⁷ “He does not look at ^(CJ)the streams,
The rivers flowing with honey and curds.
¹⁸ “He ^(CK)returns what he has attained
And cannot swallow it;
As to the riches of his trading,
He cannot even enjoy them.
¹⁹ “For he has ^(CL)oppressed and forsaken the poor;
He has seized a house which he has not built.

²⁰ “Because he knew no quiet ^[ar]within him,
He does ^(CM)not retain anything he desires.
²¹ “Nothing remains ^[as]for him to devour,
Therefore ^(CN)his prosperity does not endure.
²² “In the fullness of his plenty he will be cramped;
The ^(CO)hand of everyone who suffers will come against him.
²³ “When he ^(CP)fills his belly,
God will send His fierce anger on him
And will ^(CQ)rain it on him ^[at]while he is eating.
²⁴ “He may ^(CR)flee from the iron weapon,
But the bronze bow will pierce him.
²⁵ “It is drawn forth and comes out of his back,
Even the glittering point from ^(CS)his gall.
^(CT)Terrors come upon him,
²⁶ Complete ^(CU)darkness is held in reserve for his treasures,
And unfanned ^(CV)fire will devour him;
It will consume the survivor in his tent.
²⁷ “The ^(CW)heavens will reveal his iniquity,
And the earth will rise up against him.
²⁸ “The ^(CX)increase of his house will depart;
His possessions will flow away ^(CY)in the day of His anger.
²⁹ “This is the wicked man’s ^(CZ)portion from God,
Even the heritage decreed to him by God.”