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Job Prays for Relief

17 “My spirit is broken,
    my days are extinguished,
    the grave is ready for me.
Are not mockers with me?
    And does not my eye dwell on their provocation?

“Now put down a pledge for me with Yourself.
    Who is he who will shake hands with me?
For You have hidden their heart from understanding.
    Therefore will You not exalt them.
He who speaks flattery to his friends,
    even the eyes of his children will fail.

“And He has made me a byword of the people,
    someone in whose face they spit.
My eye also is dim because of sorrow,
    and all my members are like a shadow.
Upright men will be astonished at this,
    and the innocent will stir up himself against the hypocrite.
The righteous also will hold to his way,
    and he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger.

10 “But as for you all, 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 my house;
    I have made my bed in the darkness.
14 I have said to the pit, ‘You are my father’;
    to the worm, ‘You are my mother and my sister.’
15 Where now is my hope?
    As for my hope, who will see it?
16 Will they go down to the gates of Sheol?
    Will we descend together in the dust?”

17 My spirit(A) is broken,
    my days are cut short,(B)
    the grave awaits me.(C)
Surely mockers(D) surround me;(E)
    my eyes must dwell on their hostility.

“Give me, O God, the pledge you demand.(F)
    Who else will put up security(G) for me?(H)
You have closed their minds to understanding;(I)
    therefore you will not let them triumph.
If anyone denounces their friends for reward,(J)
    the eyes of their children will fail.(K)

“God has made me a byword(L) to everyone,(M)
    a man in whose face people spit.(N)
My eyes have grown dim with grief;(O)
    my whole frame is but a shadow.(P)
The upright are appalled at this;
    the innocent are aroused(Q) against the ungodly.
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)