17:1 My spirit is broken, my days are cut short, the grave awaits me.
17:2 Surely mockers surround me; my eyes must dwell on their hostility.
17:3 “Give me, O God, the pledge you demand. Who else will put up security for me?
17:4 You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore you will not let them triumph.
17:5 If a man denounces his friends for reward, the eyes of his children will fail.
17:6 “God has made me a byword to everyone, a man in whose face people spit.
17:7 My eyes have grown dim with grief; my whole frame is but a shadow.
17:8 Upright men are appalled at this; the innocent are aroused against the ungodly.
17:9 Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger.
17:10 “But come on, all of you, try again! I will not find a wise man among you.
17:11 My days have passed, my plans are shattered, and so are the desires of my heart.
17:12 These men turn night into day; in the face of darkness they say, ‘Light is near.’
17:13 If the only home I hope for is the grave, if I spread out my bed in darkness,
17:14 if I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister,’
17:15 where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?
17:16 Will it go down to the gates of death? Will we descend together into the dust?”
17:1 My spirit is broken; / My days are extinct; / The graveyard is ready for me.
17:2 Surely there are mockers with me, / And my eye lingers on their provocation.
17:3 Lay down now a pledge for me with Yourself; / Who is he who will strike hands with me?
17:4 For You have hidden their heart from insight; / Therefore You will not exalt them.
17:5 He who denounces his friends for a share of the profit taken, / Even the eyes of his children will fail.
17:6 But He has made me a byword of the people, / And I have become one on whom they may spit.
17:7 And my eye has grown dim because of the sorrow, / And my members are all like a shadow.
17:8 The upright are appalled at this, / And the innocent stir themselves up against the profane man.
17:9 Yet the righteous man will hold fast to his way, / And he whose hands are clean will wax yet stronger.
17:10 But all of you, come back now, / And I will not find a wise man among you.
17:11 My days have passed; broken are my plans, / The cherished thoughts of my heart.
17:12 They change night into day; / The light is near, they say in the face of darkness.
17:13 If I wait for Sheol as my house; / If I spread my couch in the darkness;
17:14 If I call out to the pit, You are my father; / You are my mother and my sister, to the worm;
17:15 Where then is my hope? / Indeed, my hope, who will see it?
17:16 It will go down to the bars of Sheol, / When, at the same time, we have rest in the dust.