1

1 My spirit is broken,

my days are cut short,

the grave awaits me.

2 Surely mockers surround me;

my eyes must dwell on their hostility.

3 ‘Give me, O God, the pledge you demand.

Who else will put up security for me?

4 You have closed their minds to understanding;

therefore you will not let them triumph.

5 If anyone denounces their friends for reward,

the eyes of their children will fail.

6 ‘God has made me a byword to everyone,

a man in whose face people spit.

7 My eyes have grown dim with grief;

my whole frame is but a shadow.

8 The upright are appalled at this;

the innocent are aroused against the ungodly.

9 Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways,

and those with clean hands will grow stronger.

10 ‘But come on, all of you, try again!

I will not find a wise man among you.

11 My days have passed, my plans are shattered.

Yet the desires of my heart

12 turn night into day;

in the face of the darkness light is near.

13 If the only home I hope for is the grave,

if I spread out my bed in the realm of darkness,

14 if I say to corruption, “You are my father,”

and to the worm, “My mother” or “My sister”,

15 where then is my hope –

who can see any hope for me?

16 Will it go down to the gates of death?

Will we descend together into the dust?’

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/72/32k/JOB/17-7e086e78c312076aeefb34b8d2029a32.mp3?version_id=113—