New International Version NIV
American Standard Version ASV
1 My spirit is broken, my days are cut short, the grave awaits me.
1
My spirit is consumed, my days are extinct, The grave is [ready] for me.
2 Surely mockers surround me; my eyes must dwell on their hostility.
2
Surely there are mockers with me, And mine eye dwelleth upon their provocation.
3 “Give me, O God, the pledge you demand. Who else will put up security for me?
3
Give now a pledge, be surety for me with thyself; Who is there that will strike hands with me?
4 You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore you will not let them triumph.
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For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: Therefore shalt thou not exalt [them].
5 If anyone denounces their friends for reward, the eyes of their children will fail.
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He that denounceth his friends for a prey, Even the eyes of his children shall fail.
6 “God has made me a byword to everyone, a man in whose face people spit.
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But he hath made me a byword of the people; And they spit in my face.
7 My eyes have grown dim with grief; my whole frame is but a shadow.
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Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, And all my members are as a shadow.
8 The upright are appalled at this; the innocent are aroused against the ungodly.
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Upright men shall be astonished at this, And the innocent shall stir up himself against the godless.
9 Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger.
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Yet shall the righteous hold on his way, And he that hath clean hands shall wax stronger and stronger.
10 “But come on, all of you, try again! I will not find a wise man among you.
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But as for you all, come on now again; And I shall not find a wise man among you.
11 My days have passed, my plans are shattered. Yet the desires of my heart
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My days are past, my purposes are broken off, Even the thoughts of my heart.
12 turn night into day; in the face of the darkness light is near.
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They change the night into day: The light, [say they], is near unto the darkness.
13 If the only home I hope for is the grave, if I spread out my bed in the realm of darkness,
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If I look for Sheol as my house; If I have spread my couch in the darkness;
14 if I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister,’
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If I have said to corruption, Thou art my father; To the worm, [Thou art] my mother, and my sister;
15 where then is my hope— who can see any hope for me?
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Where then is my hope? And as for my hope, who shall see it?
16 Will it go down to the gates of death? Will we descend together into the dust?”
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It shall go down to the bars of Sheol, When once there is rest in the dust.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
The American Standard Version is in the public domain.