Job 16:22-17:9

The Voice

²² Only a few years left now,
and I will go down the path from which I cannot return.

17 Job: My spirit has collapsed; my days have been blotted out;
        the grave is prepared for me.
²    There are mockers all around me;
        my eyes are fixed on their unwarranted opposition of me.
³    Show me a sign! Vouch for me, God!
        Who is there to give me his hand, guaranteeing his pledge?
⁴    I think no one is there because You have closed up their minds,
        made them unable to see or understand;
        so You will honor none of them.
⁵    You have heard, “Whoever denounces his friends for land
        will watch his children go blind.”

⁶    But God has turned me into a swear word for everyone;
        I have become a symbol of human darkness;
        I am the face on whom one spits.
⁷    All my afflictions cloud my vision;
        the members of my body are wasting away;
    I am a mere shadow of what it once was.
⁸    Those of moral fiber are appalled at this;
        innocent men grow indignant at the wicked.
⁹    Even still, the righteous embrace their way of life;
        those with clean hands go from strong to stronger.