Job 17

Job Continues: Where Then Is My Hope?

1 "My spirit is broken,
My days are extinguished,
a The grave is ready for me. 2 Are not mockers with me?
And does not my eye 1 dwell on their b provocation?

3 "Now put down a pledge for me with Yourself.
Who is he who c will shake hands with me? 4 For You have hidden their heart from d understanding;
Therefore You will not exalt them. 5 He who speaks flattery to his friends,
Even the eyes of his children will e fail.

6 "But He has made me f a byword of the people,
And I have become one in whose face men spit. 7 g My eye has also grown dim because of sorrow,
And all my members are like shadows. 8 Upright men are astonished at this,
And the innocent stirs himself up against the hypocrite. 9 Yet the righteous will hold to his h way,
And he who has i clean hands will be stronger and stronger. 10 "But please, j come back again, 2 all of you,
For I shall not find one wise man among you. 11 k My days are past,
My purposes are broken off,
Even the 3 thoughts of my heart. 12 They change the night into day;
'The light is near,' they say, in the face of darkness. 13 If I wait for the grave as my house,
If I make my bed in the darkness, 14 If I say to corruption, 'You are my father,'
And to the worm, 'You are my mother and my sister,' 15 Where then is my l hope?
As for my hope, who can see it?
16 Will they go down m to the gates of 4 Sheol?
Shall we have n rest together in the dust?"

  1. Cross References
    Psalms 88:3
    For my soul is full of troubles, And my life draws near to the grave.
    Psalms 88:4
    I am counted with those who go down to the pit; I am like a man who has no strength.
  2. Cross References
    1 Samuel 1:6
    And her rival also provoked her severely, to ma...
    Job 12:4
    I am one mocked by his friends, Who called on G...
    Job 17:6
    But He has made me a byword of the people, And ...
    Job 30:1
    But now they mock at me, men younger than I, Wh...
    Job 30:9
    And now I am their taunting song; Yes, I am the...
    Job 34:7
    What man is like Job, Who drinks scorn like water.
  3. Cross References
    Proverbs 6:1
    My son, if you become surety for your friend, If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger.
    Proverbs 17:18
    A man devoid of understanding shakes hands in a pledge, And becomes surety for his friend.
    Proverbs 22:26
    Do not be one of those who shakes hands in a pledge, One of those who is surety for debts.
  4. Cross References
    Job 12:20
    He deprives the trusted ones of speech, And takes away the discernment of the elders.
    Job 32:9
    Great men are not always wise, Nor do the aged always understand justice.
  5. Cross References
    Job 11:20
    But the eyes of the wicked will fail, And they shall not escape, And their hope - loss of life!
  6. Cross References
    Job 30:9
    And now I am their taunting song; Yes, I am their byword.
  7. Cross References
    Psalms 6:7
    My eye wastes away because of grief; It grows old because of all my enemies.
    Psalms 31:9
    Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am in trouble; My eye wastes away with grief, Yes, my soul and my body!
  8. Cross References
    Proverbs 4:18
    But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.
  9. Cross References
    Psalms 24:4
    He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully.
  10. Cross References
    Job 6:29
    Yield now, let there be no injustice! Yes, concede, my righteousness still stands!
  11. Cross References
    Job 7:6
    My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, And are spent without hope.
  12. Cross References
    Job 7:6
    My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, And are spent without hope.
    Job 13:15
    Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him.
    Job 14:19
    As water wears away stones, And as torrents wash away the soil of the earth; So You destroy the hope of man.
    Job 19:10
    He breaks me down on every side, And I am gone; My hope He has uprooted like a tree.
  13. Cross References
    Jonah 2:6
    I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD, my God.
  14. Cross References
    Job 3:17 - 19
    There the wicked cease from troubling, And there the weary are at rest.
    Job 21:33
    The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him; Everyone shall follow him, As countless have gone before him.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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