Add parallel Print Page Options

22 Indeed, after a few years[a] have come,
then[b] I will go the way from which I will not return.

Job’s Fifth Speech, Continued

17 “My spirit is pulled down; my days are extinguished;
the graveyard is for me.
Surely[c] mockery is with me,
and my eye rests[d] on their provocation.
Please lay down a pledge for me with yourself;
who is he who will give security for my hand?[e]
Indeed,[f] you have closed their mind from understanding;
therefore, you will not let them triumph.
He denounces friends for reward,
so[g] his children’s eyes will fail.
“And he has made me a proverb for[h] the peoples,
and I am one before whom people spit.[i]
And my eye has grown dim from grief,
and the limbs of my body are all[j] like a shadow.
The upright are appalled at this,
and the innocent excites himself over the godless.
But[k] the righteous holds on to his way,
and he who has clean hands[l] increases in strength.

Footnotes

  1. Job 16:22 Literally “years of number”
  2. Job 16:22 Hebrew “and”
  3. Job 17:2 Literally “If not”
  4. Job 17:2 Literally “spends the night”
  5. Job 17:3 Or “who will give security for me?”
  6. Job 17:4 Or “For”
  7. Job 17:5 Hebrew “and”
  8. Job 17:6 Hebrew “of”
  9. Job 17:6 Literally “and spitting to the faces I am”
  10. Job 17:7 Hebrew “all of them”
  11. Job 17:9 Hebrew “And”
  12. Job 17:9 Literally “the clean of hands”

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)