Job 17
Expanded Bible
17 My spirit is broken;
the days of my life are ·almost gone [extinguished].
The grave is ·waiting [ready] for me.
2 Those who ·laugh [mock; scoff] at me surround me;
·I watch them insult me [L My eye dwells/lodges on their obstinate behavior].
3 “·God, make me a promise [L Make a pledge for me with yourself].
·No one will make a pledge for me [L Who else will clap hands with me; C a gesture that seals an agreement].
4 You have closed their minds to understanding.
·Do not let them win over me [L You will not let them triumph].
5 People might ·speak against [denounce] their friends for ·money [L a share; a piece of property],
but if they do, the eyes of their children ·go blind [L will fade].
6 “God has made my name a ·curse word [L proverb; byword; 1 Kin. 9:7; 2 Chr. 7:20; Ps. 44:14; Jer. 24:9; Ezek. 14:8; Joel 2:17];
people spit in my face.
7 My sight has grown ·weak [dim] because of my ·sadness [grief],
and my ·body [whole frame] is ·as thin as [L like] a shadow.
8 ·Honest [Virtuous] people are ·upset [depressed; desolated] about this;
·innocent [blameless] people are ·upset with [or aroused against] those who ·do wrong [or are godless].
9 But ·those who do right [the righteous] will ·continue to do right [L hold on to their way],
and those whose hands are ·not dirty with sin [L clean; C in a ritual sense] will grow stronger.
10 “But, all of you, come ·and try again [L back now]!
I ·do [or will] not find a wise person among you.
11 My days are gone, and my plans have been ·destroyed [L torn away],
along with the desires of my heart.
12 ·These men think night is [L They make night into] day;
·when it is dark, they say, ‘Light is near [L light is near the darkness].’
13 If the only home I hope for is ·the grave [L Sheol; C the place of the dead],
if I spread out my bed in darkness,
14 if I say to the ·grave [L pit], ‘You are my father,’
and to the worm, ‘You are my mother’ or ‘You are my sister,’
15 where, then, is my hope?
Who can see any hope for me?
16 Will hope go down to the gates of ·death [L Sheol; 17:13]?
Will we go down together into the dust?”
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