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Job 17
Easy-to-Read Version
Job 17
Easy-to-Read Version
17 My spirit is broken;
I am ready to give up.
My life is almost gone;
the grave is waiting for me.
2 People stand around me and laugh at me.
I watch them as they tease and insult me.
3 “God, give me some support.
No one else will!
4 You have closed my friends’ minds,
and they don’t understand.
Please don’t let them win.
5 You know what people say:
‘A man neglects his own children to help his friends.’[a]
But my friends have turned against me.
6 God has made my name a bad word to everyone.
People spit in my face.
7 My eyes are almost blind from my grief.
My whole body is as thin as a shadow.
8 Good people wonder how this could happen.
The innocent are upset with anyone who is against God.
9 But those who do right will continue to do what is right.
Those who are not guilty grow stronger and stronger.
10 “But come on, all of you, and try to prove me wrong.
I don’t find any of you to be wise.
11 My life is passing away, and my plans are destroyed.
My hope is gone.
12 Everything is confused—
night is day, and evening comes when it should be dawn.
13 “I might hope for the grave to be my new home.
I might hope to make my bed in the dark grave.
14 I might say to the grave, ‘You are my father,’
and to the worms, ‘my mother’ or ‘my sister.’
15 But you can’t really call that hope, can you?
Does anyone see any hope for me?
16 Will hope go down with me to the place of death?
Will we go down into the dirt together?”
Footnotes
- Job 17:5 You know … friends Literally, “He promises a share to his friends and his children’s eyes go blind.”
Job 17
New International Version
Job 17
New International Version
17 1 My spirit(A) is broken,
my days are cut short,(B)
the grave awaits me.(C)
2 Surely mockers(D) surround me;(E)
my eyes must dwell on their hostility.
3 “Give me, O God, the pledge you demand.(F)
Who else will put up security(G) for me?(H)
4 You have closed their minds to understanding;(I)
therefore you will not let them triumph.
5 If anyone denounces their friends for reward,(J)
the eyes of their children will fail.(K)
6 “God has made me a byword(L) to everyone,(M)
a man in whose face people spit.(N)
7 My eyes have grown dim with grief;(O)
my whole frame is but a shadow.(P)
8 The upright are appalled at this;
the innocent are aroused(Q) against the ungodly.
9 Nevertheless, the righteous(R) will hold to their ways,
and those with clean hands(S) will grow stronger.(T)
10 “But come on, all of you, try again!
I will not find a wise man among you.(U)
11 My days have passed,(V) my plans are shattered.
Yet the desires of my heart(W)
12 turn night into day;(X)
in the face of the darkness light is near.(Y)
13 If the only home I hope for is the grave,(Z)
if I spread out my bed(AA) in the realm of darkness,(AB)
14 if I say to corruption,(AC) ‘You are my father,’
and to the worm,(AD) ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister,’
15 where then is my hope—(AE)
who can see any hope for me?(AF)
16 Will it go down to the gates of death?(AG)
Will we descend together into the dust?”(AH)
Job 17
King James Version
Job 17
King James Version
17 My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.
2 Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?
3 Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?
4 For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them.
5 He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail.
6 He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret.
7 Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow.
8 Upright men shall be astonied at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite.
9 The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.
10 But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for I cannot find one wise man among you.
11 My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart.
12 They change the night into day: the light is short because of darkness.
13 If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.
14 I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister.
15 And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it?
16 They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust.
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.