17
1 My spirit is broken,
my days have faded out,
the grave awaits me.
2 Surely mockery is with me;
my eyes must dwell on their hostility.
3 Make then my pledge with you.
Who else will put up security for me?
4 Because you have closed their minds to understanding,
therefore you will not exalt them.
5 If a man denounces his friends for personal gain,
the eyes of his children will fail.
6 He has made me a byword to people,
I am the one in whose face they spit.
7 My eyes have grown dim with grief;
my whole frame is but a shadow.
8 Upright men are appalled at this;
the innocent man is troubled with the godless.
9 But the righteous man holds to his way,
and the one with clean hands grows stronger.
Anticipation of Death
10 “But turn, all of you, and come now!
I will not find a wise man among you.
11 My days have passed, my plans are shattered,
even the desires of my heart.
12 These men change night into day;
they say, ‘The light is near
in the face of darkness.’
13 If I hope for the grave to be my home,
if I spread out my bed in darkness,
14 If I cry to corruption, ‘You are my father,’
and to the worm, ‘My Mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
15 where then is my hope?
And my hope, who sees it?
16 Will it go down to the barred gates of death?
Will we descend together into the dust?”
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