Job 17

New International Version

• 1. My spirit is broken, my days are cut short, the grave awaits me.
• 2. Surely 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?
• 4. You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore you will not let them triumph.
• 5. If a man denounces his friends for reward, the eyes of his children will fail.
• 6. "God has made me a byword to everyone, a man in whose face people spit.
• 7. My eyes have grown dim with grief; my whole frame is but a shadow.
• 8. Upright men are appalled at this; the innocent are aroused against the ungodly.
• 9. Nevertheless, 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.
• 11. My days have passed, my plans are shattered, and so are the desires of my heart.
• 12. These men turn night into day; in the face of darkness they say, 'Light is near.'
• 13. If the only home I hope for is the grave, if I spread out my bed in darkness,
• 14. if I say to corruption, 'You are my father,' and to the worm, 'My mother' or 'My sister,'
• 15. where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?
• 16. Will it go down to the gates of death? Will we descend together into the dust?"

New International Version