Aa
1My spirit is broken.
My days are extinguished.
A graveyard17:1 Jb 3:22; 5:26; 10:19 awaits me.
2Surely mockers surround17:2 Lit are with me,
and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.17:2 Ps 22:7; 119:51; Jr 20:7

3Accept my pledge! Put up security for me.17:3 Gn 43:9; Ps 119:122; Pr 6:1
Who else will be my sponsor?17:3 Or Who is there that will shake hands with me?
4You have closed their minds to understanding,
therefore you will not honor them.
5If a man denounces his friends for a price,
the eyes of his children will fail.

6He has made me an object of scorn to the people;
I have become a man people spit at.17:6 Lit become a spitting to the faces17:6 Nm 12:14; Is 50:6; Mt 27:30
7My eyes have grown dim from grief,
and my whole body has become but a shadow.
8The upright are appalled17:8 Jb 18:20; 21:5; Dn 4:19 at this,
and the innocent are roused against the godless.
9Yet the righteous person will hold to his way,
and the one whose hands are clean17:9 2Sm 22:21; Jb 22:30; Ps 24:4 will grow stronger.
10But come back and try again, all of you.17:10 Some Hb mss, LXX, Vg; other Hb mss read them
I will not find a wise man among you.

11My days have slipped by;
my plans have been ruined,
even the things dear to my heart.
12They turned night into day
and made light seem near in the face of darkness.17:12 Jb 11:17; Ps 37:6; Is 58:8,10
13If I await Sheol as my home,
spread out my bed in darkness,
14and say to corruption, “You are my father,”
and to the maggot, “My mother” or “My sister,”17:14 Jb 3:15; 30:23; Ec 12:5
15where then is my hope?17:15 Jb 7:6; 14:19; 19:10
Who can see any hope for me?
16Will it go down to the gates of Sheol,17:16 Jb 7:9; 11:8; 14:13
or will we descend together to the dust?