Job 17:1–16

Job Continues to Defend His Innocence

¹“My spirit is crushed,

and my life is nearly snuffed out.

The grave is ready to receive me.

²I am surrounded by mockers.

I watch how bitterly they taunt me.

³“You must defend my innocence, O God,

since no one else will stand up for me.

⁴You have closed their minds to understanding,

but do not let them triumph.

⁵They betray their friends for their own advantage,

so let their children faint with hunger.

⁶“God has made a mockery of me among the people;

they spit in my face.

⁷My eyes are swollen with weeping,

and I am but a shadow of my former self.

⁸The virtuous are horrified when they see me.

The innocent rise up against the ungodly.

⁹The righteous keep moving forward,

and those with clean hands become stronger and stronger.

¹⁰“As for all of you, come back with a better argument,

though I still won’t find a wise man among you.

¹¹My days are over.

My hopes have disappeared.

My heart’s desires are broken.

¹²These men say that night is day;

they claim that the darkness is light.

¹³What if I go to the grave

and make my bed in darkness?

¹⁴What if I call the grave my father,

and the maggot my mother or my sister?

¹⁵Where then is my hope?

Can anyone find it?

¹⁶No, my hope will go down with me to the grave.

We will rest together in the dust!”