The Word Am I

The Book of Job

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- Chapter 17 -

Job asks for relief

1
My spirit will be wasted, my days will be shortened, and only the grave will be left for me.
2
I have not sinned, yet my eye remains in bitterness.(a)
3
Free me, O Lord, and set me beside you, and let the hand of anyone you wish fight against me.
4
You have set their heart far from discipline; therefore, they will not be praised.
5
He promises prey to his companions, but the eyes of his sons will grow faint.
6
He has posted me like a proverb to the people, and I am an example in their presence.
7
My eyesight has been clouded by indignation, and my limbs have been reduced, as if to nothing.
8
The just will be astounded over this, and the innocent will be stirred up against the hypocrite.
9
And the just will cling to his way, and clean hands will increase strength.
10
Therefore, be converted, all of you, and approach, for I do not find in you any wisdom.
11
My days have passed away; my thoughts have been scattered, tormenting my heart.
12
They have turned night into day, and I hope for light again after the darkness.
13
If I should wait, the underworld is my house, and in darkness I have spread out my bed.(b)
14
I have said to decay and to worms: “You are my father, my mother, and my sister.”
15
Therefore, where is my expectation now, and who is it that considers my patience?
16
Everything of mine will descend into the deepest underworld; do you think that, in that place at least, there will be rest for me?(c)

Footnotes

(a)17:2 Not sinned:That is, I am not guilty of such sins as they charge me with.(Challoner)
(b)17:13 Hell:Sheol. The region of the dead.(Challoner)
(c)17:16 Deepest pit:Literally, hell.(Challoner)

Job asks for relief

1
“My spirit is consumed. My days are extinct and the grave is ready for me.
2
Surely there are mockers with me. My eye dwells on their provocation.
3
“Now give a pledge. Be collateral for me with yourself. Who is there who will strike hands with me?
4
For you have hidden their heart from understanding, therefore you will not exalt them.
5
He who denounces his friends for plunder, even the eyes of his children will fail.
6
“But he has made me a byword of the people. They spit in my face.
7
My eye also is dim by reason of sorrow. All my members are as a shadow.
8
Upright men will be astonished at this. The innocent will stir himself up against the godless.
9
Yet the righteous will hold to his way. He who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
10
But as for you all, come back. I will not find a wise man among you.
11
My days are past. My plans are broken off, as are the thoughts of my heart.
12
They change the night into day, saying ‘The light is near’ in the presence of darkness.
13
If I look for Sheol (a) as my house, if I have spread my couch in the darkness,
14
if I have said to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ and ‘My sister,’
15
where then is my hope? As for my hope, who will see it?
16
Shall it go down with me to the gates of Sheol,(b) or descend together into the dust?”

Footnotes

(a)17:13 Sheol is the place of the dead.
(b)17:16 Sheol is the place of the dead.
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