17 My spirit is broken.
My days are extinguished.
A graveyard(A) awaits me.
Surely mockers surround[a] me,
and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.(B)

Accept my pledge! Put up security for me.(C)
Who else will be my sponsor?[b]
You have closed their minds to understanding,
therefore you will not honor them.
If a man denounces his friends for a price,
the eyes of his children will fail.

He has made me an object of scorn to the people;
I have become a man people spit at.[c](D)
My eyes have grown dim from grief,
and my whole body has become but a shadow.
The upright are appalled(E) at this,
and the innocent are roused against the godless.
Yet the righteous person will hold to his way,
and the one whose hands are clean(F) will grow stronger.
10 But come back and try again, all of you.[d]
I will not find a wise man among you.

11 My days have slipped by;
my plans have been ruined,
even the things dear to my heart.
12 They turned night into day
and made light seem near in the face of darkness.(G)
13 If I await Sheol as my home,
spread out my bed in darkness,
14 and say to corruption, “You are my father,”
and to the maggot, “My mother” or “My sister,”(H)
15 where then is my hope?(I)
Who can see any hope for me?
16 Will it go down to the gates of Sheol,(J)
or will we descend together to the dust?

Footnotes

  1. 17:2 Lit are with
  2. 17:3 Or Who is there that will shake hands with me?
  3. 17:6 Lit become a spitting to the faces
  4. 17:10 Some Hb mss, LXX, Vg; other Hb mss read them

17 My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.

Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?

Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?

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

He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail.

He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret.

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

Upright men shall be astonied at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite.

The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.

10 But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for I cannot find one 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 is short because of darkness.

13 If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.

14 I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister.

15 And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it?

16 They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust.