Job 17

1 My spirit is consumed, my days are extinct, The grave is ready for me.

2 Surely there are mockers with me, And mine eye dwelleth upon their provocation.

3 Give now a pledge, be surety for me with thyself; Who is there that will strike hands with me?

4 For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: Therefore shalt thou not exalt them.

5 He that denounceth his friends for a prey, Even the eyes of his children shall fail.

6 But he hath made me a byword of the people; And they spit in my face.

7 Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, And all my members are as a shadow.

8 Upright men shall be astonished at this, And the innocent shall stir up himself against the godless.

9 Yet shall the righteous hold on his way, And he that hath clean hands shall wax stronger and stronger.

10 But as for you all, come on now again; And I shall not find a wise man among you.

11 My days are past, my purposes are broken off, Even the thoughts of my heart.

12 They change the night into day: The light, say they, is near unto the darkness.

13 If I look for Sheol as my house; If I have spread my couch in the darkness;

14 If I have said to corruption, Thou art my father; To the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister;

15 Where then is my hope? And as for my hope, who shall see it?

16 It shall go down to the bars of Sheol, When once there is rest in the dust.

JOB 17

Job Complains to God

My Hopes Have Died

1 My hopes have died,
my time is up,
and the grave is ready.

2 All I can see are angry crowds,
making fun of me.

3 If you, [Lord], don't help,
who will pay the price
for my release?

4 My friends won't really listen,
all because of you,
and so you must be the one
to prove them wrong.

5 They have condemned me,
just to benefit themselves;
now blind their children.

6 You, God, are the reason
I am insulted and spit on.

7 I am almost blind with grief;
my body is a mere shadow.

8 People who are truly good
would feel so alarmed,
that they would become angry
with my worthless friends.

9 They would do the right thing
and because they did,
they would grow stronger.t

10 But none of my friends
show any sense.

11 My life is drawing to an end;
hope has disappeared.

12 But all my friends can do
is offer empty hopes.t

13 I could tell the world below
to prepare me a bed.

14 Then I could greet the grave
as my father
and say to the worms,
“Hello, mother and sisters!”

15 But what kind of hope is that?

16 Will it keep me company
in the world of the dead?