Job 17

1
“My spirit is broken; my days are extinguished; the grave awaits me. Begin Abide·
2
Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion. Begin Abide·
3
Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand. Who else will be my guarantor? Begin Abide·
4
You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore You will not exalt them. Begin Abide·
5
If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail. Begin Abide·
6
He has made me a byword among the people, a man in whose face they spit. Begin Abide·
7
My eyes have grown dim with grief, and my whole body is but a shadow. Begin Abide·
8
The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent are stirred against the godless. Begin Abide·
9
Yet a righteous one holds to his way, and the one with clean hands grows stronger. Begin Abide·
10
But come back and try again, all of you. For I will not find a wise man among you. Begin Abide·
11
My days have passed; my plans are broken off—even the desires of my heart. Begin Abide·
12
They have turned night into day, making light seem near in the face of darkness. Begin Abide·
13
If I look for Sheol as my home, if I spread out my bed in darkness, Begin Abide·
14
and say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’ Begin Abide·
15
where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me? Begin Abide·
16
Will it go down to the gates of Sheol? Will we go down together into the dust?” Begin Abide·