Job 17

¹My spirit is broken.

My days are extinguished.

A graveyard ^a awaits me.

²Surely mockers surround ^b me,

and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion. ^c

³Accept my pledge! Put up security for me. ^d

Who else will be my sponsor? ^e

⁴You have closed their minds to understanding,

therefore you will not honor them.

⁵If a man denounces his friends for a price,

the eyes of his children will fail.

⁶He has made me an object of scorn to the people;

I have become a man people spit at. ^f,^g

⁷My eyes have grown dim from grief,

and my whole body has become but a shadow.

⁸The upright are appalled ^h at this,

and the innocent are roused against the godless.

⁹Yet the righteous person will hold to his way,

and the one whose hands are clean ⁱ will grow stronger.

¹⁰But come back and try again, all of you. ^j

I will not find a wise man among you.

¹¹My days have slipped by;

my plans have been ruined,

even the things dear to my heart.

¹²They turned night into day

and made light seem near in the face of darkness. ^k

¹³If I await Sheol as my home,

spread out my bed in darkness,

¹⁴and say to corruption, “You are my father,”

and to the maggot, “My mother” or “My sister,” ^l

¹⁵where then is my hope? ^m

Who can see any hope for me?

¹⁶Will it go down to the gates of Sheol, ⁿ

or will we descend together to the dust?