from Biblica1My spirit is broken, my days are cut short, the grave awaits me.2Surely mockers surround me; my eyes must dwell on their hostility.3‘Give me, O God, the pledge you demand. Who else will put up security for me?4You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore you will not let them triumph.5If anyone denounces their friends for reward, the eyes of their children will fail.6‘God has made me a byword to everyone, a man in whose face people spit.7My eyes have grown dim with grief; my whole frame is but a shadow.8The upright are appalled at this; the innocent are aroused against the ungodly.9Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger.10‘But come on, all of you, try again! I will not find a wise man among you.11My days have passed, my plans are shattered. Yet the desires of my heart12turn night into day; in the face of the darkness light is near.13If the only home I hope for is the grave, if I spread out my bed in the realm of darkness,14if I say to corruption, “You are my father,” and to the worm, “My mother” or “My sister”,15where then is my hope – who can see any hope for me?16Will it go down to the gates of death? Will we descend together into the dust?’