17
1 My spirit is broken;
I am ready to give up.
My life is almost gone;
the grave is waiting for me.
2 People stand around me and laugh at me.
I watch them as they tease and insult me.
3 “God, give me some support.
No one else will!
4 You have closed my friends’ minds,
and they don’t understand.
Please don’t let them win.
5 You know what people say:
‘A man neglects his own children to help his friends.’*
But my friends have turned against me.
6 God has made my name a bad word to everyone.
People spit in my face.
7 My eyes are almost blind from my grief.
My whole body is as thin as a shadow.
8 Good people wonder how this could happen.
The innocent are upset with anyone who is against God.
9 But those who do right will continue to do what is right.
Those who are not guilty grow stronger and stronger.
10 “But come on, all of you, and try to prove me wrong.
I don’t find any of you to be wise.
11 My life is passing away, and my plans are destroyed.
My hope is gone.
12 Everything is confused—
night is day, and evening comes when it should be dawn.
13 “I might hope for the grave to be my new home.
I might hope to make my bed in the dark grave.
14 I might say to the grave, ‘You are my father,’
and to the worms, ‘my mother’ or ‘my sister.’
15 But you can’t really call that hope, can you?
Does anyone see any hope for me?
16 Will hope go down with me to the place of death?
Will we go down into the dirt together?”
* 17:5 You know … friends Literally, “He promises a share to his friends and his children’s eyes go blind.”