| Chapter 17 |
1 |
'My spirit is consumed, my days are extinct, And the grave is ready for me. --
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2 |
Surely there are mockers with me, My eye dwells on their provocation. --
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3 |
'Now give a pledge, be collateral for me with yourself. Who is there who will strike hands with me? --
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4 |
For you have hidden their heart from understanding, Therefore shall you not exalt them. --
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5 |
He who denounces his friends for a prey, Even the eyes of his children shall fail. --
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6 |
'But he has made me a byword of the people. They spit in my face. --
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7 |
My eye also is dim by reason of sorrow. All my members are as a shadow. --
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8 |
Upright men shall be astonished at this. The innocent shall stir up himself against the godless. --
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9 |
Yet shall the righteous hold on his way. He who has clean hands shall grow stronger and stronger. --
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10 |
But as for you all, come on now again; I shall not find a wise man among you. --
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11 |
My days are past, my plans are broken off, As are the thoughts of my heart. --
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12 |
They change the night into day, Saying 'The light is near' in the presence of darkness. --
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13 |
If I look for Sheol as my house, If I have spread my couch in the darkness, --
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14 |
If I have said to corruption, 'You are my father;' To the worm, 'My mother,' and 'my sister;' --
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15 |
Where then is my hope? As for my hope, who shall see it? --
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16 |
Shall it go down with me to the gates of Sheol, Or descend together into the dust?' --
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