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Job 17
International Standard Version
Job 17
International Standard Version
Job Laments and Prepares for Death
17 “My spirit is crushed,
my days are over;[a]
it’s the grave for me!
2 Mockers surround me;
I cannot stop staring at their hostility all through the night.
3 Offer, then, some collateral on my behalf.
Is there anyone who will be my guarantor?
4 “Because you’re the one who closed their hearts to compassion;[b]
therefore, you won’t let them triumph.
5 Now as for the one who testifies against his friends
to take their property,[c]
even the eyes of his children will fail.
6 “He has made me a byword among people;
I’m being spit on in the face.
7 My eyes have grown weak from grief;
and my whole body is as thin as a shadow.
8 The upright are appalled over this,
and the innocent person is troubled by the godless.
9 But the righteous person will hold to his way,
and those with clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.”
Job Prepares for Death
10 “Come here now, all of you,
and I won’t find a wise person among you.
11 My days are passed;
my plans have been shattered;
along with my heart’s desires.
12 They have transformed night into day—
‘The light,’ they say, ‘is about to become dark.’
13 “If my hope were that my house is the afterlife[d] itself,
if I were to make my bed in darkness,
14 if I call out to the Pit,[e] ‘You’re my father!’
or say to the worm,[f] ‘My mother!’ or ‘My sister!’
15 where would my hope be?
“And speaking of my hope, who would notice it?
16 Will it go down to the bars that lock the doors[g] of the afterlife?[h]
Will we descend together into the dust?”
Footnotes
- Job 17:1 Lit. extinguished
- Job 17:4 Lit. understanding
- Job 17:5 Or inheritance
- Job 17:13 Lit. Sheol; i.e. the realm of the afterlife
- Job 17:14 I.e. the realm of punishment in the afterlife
- Job 17:14 I.e. an agent of punishment in the afterlife
- Job 17:16 The Heb. lacks that lock the doors
- Job 17:16 Lit. Sheol; i.e. the realm of the dead
Job 17
New International Version
Job 17
New International Version
17 1 My spirit(A) is broken,
my days are cut short,(B)
the grave awaits me.(C)
2 Surely mockers(D) surround me;(E)
my eyes must dwell on their hostility.
3 “Give me, O God, the pledge you demand.(F)
Who else will put up security(G) for me?(H)
4 You have closed their minds to understanding;(I)
therefore you will not let them triumph.
5 If anyone denounces their friends for reward,(J)
the eyes of their children will fail.(K)
6 “God has made me a byword(L) to everyone,(M)
a man in whose face people spit.(N)
7 My eyes have grown dim with grief;(O)
my whole frame is but a shadow.(P)
8 The upright are appalled at this;
the innocent are aroused(Q) against the ungodly.
9 Nevertheless, the righteous(R) will hold to their ways,
and those with clean hands(S) will grow stronger.(T)
10 “But come on, all of you, try again!
I will not find a wise man among you.(U)
11 My days have passed,(V) my plans are shattered.
Yet the desires of my heart(W)
12 turn night into day;(X)
in the face of the darkness light is near.(Y)
13 If the only home I hope for is the grave,(Z)
if I spread out my bed(AA) in the realm of darkness,(AB)
14 if I say to corruption,(AC) ‘You are my father,’
and to the worm,(AD) ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister,’
15 where then is my hope—(AE)
who can see any hope for me?(AF)
16 Will it go down to the gates of death?(AG)
Will we descend together into the dust?”(AH)
International Standard Version (ISV) 
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.