Job 17
1 My spirit will be wasted, my days will be shortened, and only the grave will be left for me.
"My spirit is consumed. My days are extinct, And the grave is ready for me.
2 I have not sinned, yet my eye remains in bitterness.
Surely there are mockers with me. My eye dwells on their provocation.
3 Free me, O Lord, and set me beside you, and let the hand of anyone you wish fight against me.
"Now give a pledge, be collateral for me with yourself. Who is there who will strike hands with me?
4 You have set their heart far from discipline; therefore, they will not be praised.
For you have hidden their heart from understanding, Therefore you shall not exalt them.
5 He promises prey to his companions, but the eyes of his sons will grow faint.
He who denounces his friends for a prey, Even the eyes of his children shall fail.
6 He has posted me like a proverb to the people, and I am an example in their presence.
"But he has made me a byword of the people. They spit in my face.
7 My eyesight has been clouded by indignation, and my limbs have been reduced, as if to nothing.
My eye also is dim by reason of sorrow. All my members are as a shadow.
8 The just will be astounded over this, and the innocent will be stirred up against the hypocrite.
Upright men shall be astonished at this. The innocent shall stir up himself against the godless.
9 And the just will cling to his way, and clean hands will increase strength.
Yet shall the righteous hold on his way. He who has clean hands shall grow stronger and stronger.
10 Therefore, be converted, all of you, and approach, for I do not find in you any wisdom.
But as for you all, come on now again; I shall not find a wise man among you.
11 My days have passed away; my thoughts have been scattered, tormenting my heart.
My days are past, my plans are broken off, as are the thoughts of my heart.
12 They have turned night into day, and I hope for light again after the darkness.
They change the night into day, saying 'The light is near' in the presence of darkness.
13 If I should wait, the underworld is my house, and in darkness I have spread out my bed. (Sheol h7585)
If I look for Sheol as my house, if I have spread my couch in the darkness, (Sheol h7585)
14 I have said to decay and to worms: “You are my father, my mother, and my sister.”
If I have said to corruption, 'You are my father;' to the worm, 'My mother,' and 'my sister;'
15 Therefore, where is my expectation now, and who is it that considers my patience?
where then is my hope? As for my hope, who shall see it?
