[1] My spirit is broken. My days are extinguished. A graveyard awaits me. [2] Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion. [3] Accept my pledge! Put up security for me. Who else will be my sponsor? [4] You have closed their minds to understanding, therefore you will not honor them. [5] If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail. [6] He has made me an object of scorn to the people; I have become a man people spit at. [7] My eyes have grown dim from grief, and my whole body has become but a shadow. [8] The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent are roused against the godless. [9] Yet the righteous person will hold to his way, and the one whose hands are clean will grow stronger. [10] But come back and try again, all of you. I will not find a wise man among you. [11] My days have slipped by; my plans have been ruined, even the things dear to my heart. [12] They turned night into day and made light seem near in the face of darkness. [13] If I await Sheol as my home, spread out my bed in darkness, [14] and say to corruption, "You are my father," and to the maggot, "My mother" or "My sister," [15] where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me? [16] Will it go down to the gates of Sheol, or will we descend together to the dust?
