New International Version NIV
Revised Standard Version RSV
1 My spirit is broken, my days are cut short, the grave awaits me.
1
My spirit is broken, 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 about me, and my eye dwells on their provocation.
3 “Give me, O God, the pledge you demand. Who else will put up security for me?
3
"Lay down a pledge for me with thyself; who is there that will give surety for me?
4 You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore you will not let them triumph.
4
Since thou hast closed their minds to understanding, therefore thou wilt not let them triumph.
5 If anyone denounces their friends for reward, the eyes of their children will fail.
5
He who informs against his friends to get a share of their property, the eyes of his children will fail.
6 “God has made me a byword to everyone, a man in whose face people spit.
6
"He has made me a byword of the peoples, and I am one before whom men spit.
7 My eyes have grown dim with grief; my whole frame is but a shadow.
7
My eye has grown dim from grief, and all my members are like a shadow.
8 The upright are appalled at this; the innocent are aroused against the ungodly.
8
Upright men are appalled at this, and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless.
9 Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger.
9
Yet the righteous holds to his way, and he that has clean hands grows 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 you, come on again, all of you, 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
11
My days are past, my plans are broken off, the desires of my heart.
12 turn night into day; in the face of the darkness light is near.
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They make night into day; 'The light,' they say, 'is near to the darkness.'
13 If the only home I hope for is the grave, if I spread out my bed in the realm of darkness,
13
If I look for Sheol as my house, if I spread my couch 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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if I say to the pit, 'You are my father,' and to the worm, 'My mother,' or 'My sister,'
15 where then is my hope— who can see any hope for me?
15
where then is my hope? Who will see my hope?
16 Will it go down to the gates of death? Will we descend together into the dust?”
16
Will it go down to the bars of Sheol? Shall we descend together into 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.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.