1My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.2Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?3Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?4For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them .5He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail.6He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret.7Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow.8Upright men shall be astonied at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite.9The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.10But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for I cannot find one wise man among you.11My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart.12They change the night into day: the light is short because of darkness.13If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.14I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister.15And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it?16They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust.
Job 17
English Standard Version
Job Continues: Where Then Is My Hope?
1“My spirit is broken; my days are extinct; the graveyard is ready for me. (Job 18:5; Ps 88:3)2Surely there are mockers about me, and my eye dwells on their provocation. (1Sa 1:6; Job 12:6)3“Lay down a pledge for me with you; who is there who will put up security for me? (Ps 119:122; Isa 38:14; Heb 7:22)4Since you have closed their hearts to understanding, therefore you will not let them triumph.5He who informs against his friends to get a share of their property— the eyes of his children will fail. (Job 11:20; Job 31:16)6“He has made me a byword of the peoples, and I am one before whom men spit. (De 28:37; Job 30:9; Ps 44:14; Ps 69:11)7My eye has grown dim from vexation, and all my members are like a shadow. (Job 14:2; Ps 6:7; Ps 31:9)8The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless. (Isa 52:14)9Yet the righteous holds to his way, and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger. (Job 22:30)10But you, come on again, all of you, and I shall not find a wise man among you. (Job 6:29)11My days are past; my plans are broken off, the desires of my heart. (Job 7:6; Job 9:25)12They make night into day: ‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’[1] (Job 11:17)13If I hope for Sheol as my house, if I make my bed in darkness, (Job 21:13; Ec 12:5)14if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’15where then is my hope? Who will see my hope?16Will it go down to the bars of Sheol? Shall we descend together into the dust?”[2] (Job 3:17; Job 17:13; Job 21:26; Job 40:13)