[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] Set my pledge beside 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. [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 out 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?"
