Job 17 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Job Continues to Defend His Innocence

Job 17:1“My spirit is crushed,
and my life is nearly snuffed out.
The grave is ready to receive me.

Job 17:2I am surrounded by mockers.
I watch how bitterly they taunt me.

Job 17:3“You must defend my innocence, O God,
since no one else will stand up for me.

Job 17:4You have closed their minds to understanding,
but do not let them triumph.

Job 17:5They betray their friends for their own advantage,
so let their children faint with hunger.

Job 17:6“God has made a mockery of me among the people;
they spit in my face.

Job 17:7My eyes are swollen with weeping,
and I am but a shadow of my former self.

Job 17:8The virtuous are horrified when they see me.
The innocent rise up against the ungodly.

Job 17:9The righteous keep moving forward,
and those with clean hands become stronger and stronger.

Job 17:10“As for all of you, come back with a better argument,
though I still won’t find a wise man among you.

Job 17:11My days are over.
My hopes have disappeared.
My heart’s desires are broken.

Job 17:12These men say that night is day;
they claim that the darkness is light.

Job 17:13What if I go to the grave[fn]
and make my bed in darkness?

Job 17:14What if I call the grave my father,
and the maggot my mother or my sister?

Job 17:15Where then is my hope?
Can anyone find it?

Job 17:16No, my hope will go down with me to the grave.
We will rest together in the dust!”

Hebrew to Sheol; also in 17:16.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

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