Job 17

My spirit is broken, my days are snuffed out

¹My spirit is broken, my days are snuffed out; \q the grave is waiting for me. ²Surely mockers surround me, \q and my eye must dwell on their taunts. ³Please lay down a pledge for me; stand surety for me with yourself. \q Who else will shake hands to back me? ⁴For you have closed their minds to understanding; \q therefore you will not let them triumph. ⁵Whoever betrays friends for a share of the spoil, \q the eyes of that person’s children will fail.^{a 6}He has made me a byword among the peoples, \q someone people spit on in the face. ⁷My eye has grown dim with grief, \q and my whole body is like a shadow. ⁸Upright people are appalled at this, \q and the innocent are stirred up against the godless.^{b 9}The righteous hold to their way, \q and those with clean hands grow stronger and stronger. ¹⁰But come on, all of you, try again; \q I will not find a wise person among you. ¹¹My days are over; my plans are torn apart, \q the longings of my heart. ¹²They turn night into day: \q “Light is near,” they say, in the face of darkness.^{c 13}If I look for Sheol as my home, \q if I spread out my bed in the dark, ¹⁴if I say to the pit, “You are my father,” \q and to the worm, “My mother and my sister,” ¹⁵Where then is my hope? \q Who can see any hope for me? ¹⁶Will my hope go down to the gates of Sheol? \q Shall we sink into the dust together?^de