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Job 17
Contemporary English Version
Job 17
Contemporary English Version
Job Complains to God
My Hopes Have Died
17 My hopes have died,
my time is up,
and the grave is ready.
2 All I can see are angry crowds,
making fun of me.
3 If you, Lord, don't help,
who will pay the price
for my release?
4 My friends won't really listen,
all because of you,
and so you must be the one
to prove them wrong.
5 They have condemned me,
just to benefit themselves;
now blind their children.
6 You, God, are the reason
I am insulted and spit on.
7 I am almost blind with grief;
my body is a mere shadow.
8 People who are truly good
would feel so alarmed,
that they would become angry
with my worthless friends.
9 They would do the right thing
and because they did,
they would grow stronger.[a]
10 But none of my friends
show any sense.
11 My life is drawing to an end;
hope has disappeared.
12 But all my friends can do
is offer empty hopes.[b]
13 I could tell the world below
to prepare me a bed.
14 Then I could greet the grave
as my father
and say to the worms,
“Hello, mother and sisters!”
15 But what kind of hope is that?
16 Will it keep me company
in the world of the dead?
Job 17
New International Version
Job 17
New International Version
17 1 My spirit(A) is broken,
my days are cut short,(B)
the grave awaits me.(C)
2 Surely mockers(D) surround me;(E)
my eyes must dwell on their hostility.
3 “Give me, O God, the pledge you demand.(F)
Who else will put up security(G) for me?(H)
4 You have closed their minds to understanding;(I)
therefore you will not let them triumph.
5 If anyone denounces their friends for reward,(J)
the eyes of their children will fail.(K)
6 “God has made me a byword(L) to everyone,(M)
a man in whose face people spit.(N)
7 My eyes have grown dim with grief;(O)
my whole frame is but a shadow.(P)
8 The upright are appalled at this;
the innocent are aroused(Q) against the ungodly.
9 Nevertheless, the righteous(R) will hold to their ways,
and those with clean hands(S) will grow stronger.(T)
10 “But come on, all of you, try again!
I will not find a wise man among you.(U)
11 My days have passed,(V) my plans are shattered.
Yet the desires of my heart(W)
12 turn night into day;(X)
in the face of the darkness light is near.(Y)
13 If the only home I hope for is the grave,(Z)
if I spread out my bed(AA) in the realm of darkness,(AB)
14 if I say to corruption,(AC) ‘You are my father,’
and to the worm,(AD) ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister,’
15 where then is my hope—(AE)
who can see any hope for me?(AF)
16 Will it go down to the gates of death?(AG)
Will we descend together into the dust?”(AH)
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.