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Chapter 17

My spirit is broken, my days finished,
    my burial at hand.
Surely mockers surround me,
    at their provocation, my eyes grow dim.
Put up a pledge for me with you:[a]
    who is there to give surety for me?
You darken their minds to knowledge;
    therefore you will not exalt them.
For a share of property he informs on friends,
    while the eyes of his children grow dim.
I am made a byword of the people;(A)
    I am one at whom people spit.
My eyes are blind with anguish,
    and my whole frame is like a shadow.
The upright are astonished at this,
    the innocent aroused against the wicked.
The righteous holds to his way,
    the one with clean hands increases in strength.
10 But turn now, and come on again;
    I do not find a wise man among you!
11 My days pass by, my plans are at an end,
    the yearning of my heart.
12 They would change the night into day;
    where there is darkness they talk of approaching light.
13 [b]If my only hope is dwelling in Sheol,
    and spreading my couch in darkness,
14 If I am to say to the pit, “You are my father,”
    and to the worm “my mother,” “my sister,”
15 Where then is my hope,
    my happiness, who can see it?
16 Will they descend with me into Sheol?
    Shall we go down together into the dust?

Footnotes

  1. 17:3 Addressed to God; v. 10 to Job’s friends.
  2. 17:13–16 Job elaborates another of the vivid descriptions of “life” in Sheol; cf. 3:13–23; 10:21–22.

17 My spirit(A) is broken,
    my days are cut short,(B)
    the grave awaits me.(C)
Surely mockers(D) surround me;(E)
    my eyes must dwell on their hostility.

“Give me, O God, the pledge you demand.(F)
    Who else will put up security(G) for me?(H)
You have closed their minds to understanding;(I)
    therefore you will not let them triumph.
If anyone denounces their friends for reward,(J)
    the eyes of their children will fail.(K)

“God has made me a byword(L) to everyone,(M)
    a man in whose face people spit.(N)
My eyes have grown dim with grief;(O)
    my whole frame is but a shadow.(P)
The upright are appalled at this;
    the innocent are aroused(Q) against the ungodly.
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)