Chapter 17

My spirit is broken. My days are extinguished. A graveyard awaits me.
Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.
Accept my pledge! Put up security for me. Who else will be my sponsor?
You have closed their minds to understanding, therefore you will not honor them.
If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail.
He has made me an object of scorn to the people; I have become a man people spit at.
My eyes have grown dim from grief, and my whole body has become but a shadow.
The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent are roused against the godless.
Yet the righteous person will hold to his way, and the one whose hands are clean will grow stronger.
But come back and try again, all of you. I will not find a wise man among you.
My days have slipped by; my plans have been ruined, even the things dear to my heart.
They turned night into day and made light seem near in the face of darkness.
If I await Sheol as my home, spread out my bed in darkness,
and say to corruption, "You are my father," and to the maggot, "My mother" or "My sister,"
where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?
Will it go down to the gates of Sheol, or will we descend together to the dust?