The Book of Job

“My spirit has been destroyed, || My days extinguished—graves [are] for me.

If not—mockeries [are] with me. And my eye lodges in their provocations.

Now place my pledge with You; Who is he that strikes hand with me?

For You have hidden their heart from understanding, || Therefore You do not exalt them.

For a portion he shows friendship, || And the eyes of his sons are consumed.

And He set me up for a proverb of the peoples, || And I am a wonder before them.

And my eye is dim from sorrow, || And my members—all of them—as a shadow.

The upright are astonished at this, and the innocent stirs himself up against the profane.

And the righteous lays hold [on] his way, || And the clean of hands adds strength.

But please return and come in, all of you, || And I do not find a wise man among you.

My days have passed by, || My plans have been broken off, || The possessions of my heart!

They appoint night for day, || Light [is] near because of darkness.

If I wait—Sheol [is] my house, || In darkness I have spread out my bed.

To corruption I have called: You [are] my father. To the worm: My mother and my sister.

And where [is] my hope now? Indeed, my hope, who beholds it?

You go down [to] the parts of Sheol, || If we may rest together on the dust.”

“My spirit is consumed. My days are extinct and the grave is ready for me.

Surely there are mockers with me. My eye dwells on their provocation.

“Now give a pledge. Be collateral for me with yourself. Who is there who will strike hands with me?

For you have hidden their heart from understanding, therefore you will not exalt them.

He who denounces his friends for plunder, even the eyes of his children will fail.

“But he has made me a byword of the people. They spit in my face.

My eye also is dim by reason of sorrow. All my members are as a shadow.

Upright men will be astonished at this. The innocent will stir himself up against the godless.

Yet the righteous will hold to his way. He who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.

But as for you all, come back. I will not find a wise man among you.

My days are past. My plans are broken off, as are the thoughts of my heart.

They change the night into day, saying ‘The light is near’ in the presence of darkness.

If I look for Sheol

(a)

as my house, if I have spread my couch in the darkness,

if I have said to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ and ‘My sister,’

where then is my hope? As for my hope, who will see it?

Shall it go down with me to the gates of Sheol,(b) or descend together into the dust?”

(a)17:13 Sheol is the place of the dead.

(b)17:16 Sheol is the place of the dead.