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