New International Version NIV
Common English Bible CEB
1 My spirit is broken, my days are cut short, the grave awaits me.
1
My spirit is broken, my days extinguished, the grave, mine.
2 Surely mockers surround me; my eyes must dwell on their hostility.
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Surely mockers are with me, and my eye looks on their rebellion.
3 “Give me, O God, the pledge you demand. Who else will put up security for me?
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Take my guarantee. Who else is willing to make an agreement?
4 You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore you will not let them triumph.
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You've closed their mind to insight; therefore, you won't be exalted.
5 If anyone denounces their friends for reward, the eyes of their children will fail.
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He denounces his friends for gain, and his children's eyes fail.
6 “God has made me a byword to everyone, a man in whose face people spit.
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He makes me a popular proverb; I'm like spit in people's faces.
7 My eyes have grown dim with grief; my whole frame is but a shadow.
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My eye is weak from grief; my limbs like a shadow—all of them.
8 The upright are appalled at this; the innocent are aroused against the ungodly.
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Those who do the right thing are amazed at this; the guiltless become troubled about the godless.
9 Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger.
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The innocent clings to his way; the one whose hands are clean grows stronger.
10 “But come on, all of you, try again! I will not find a wise man among you.
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But you can bring all of them again, and I won't find a wise one among you.
11 My days have passed, my plans are shattered. Yet the desires of my heart
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My days have passed; my goals are destroyed, my heart's desires.
12 turn night into day; in the face of the darkness light is near.
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They turn night into day; light is near because of 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 hope for the underworld as my dwelling, lay out my bed in darkness,
14 if I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister,’
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I've called corruption "my father," the worm, "my mother and sister."
15 where then is my hope— who can see any hope for me?
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Where then is my hope? My hope—who can see it?
16 Will it go down to the gates of death? Will we descend together into the dust?”
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Will they go down with me to the underworld; will we descend together to the dust?
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Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible