(“) My spirit is broken ; my days are extinguished ; the grave
Surely ... mockers surround me , and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.
Give (me) , I pray , the pledge You (demand). Who else ... will be my guarantor ... ?
- You have closed their minds to understanding ; therefore ... You will not exalt them.
If a man denounces his friends for a price , the eyes of his children will fail.
He has made me a byword among the people , (a man) in whose face they spit.
My eyes have grown dim with grief , and my whole body is but a shadow.
The upright are appalled at this , and the innocent are stirred against the godless.
Yet a righteous one holds to his way , and the one with clean hands ... grows stronger.
But come back ... and try again , all of you. For I will not find a wise man
My days have passed ; my plans are broken off — even the desires of my heart.
They have turned night into day , (making) light seem near in the face of darkness.
If I look for Sheol as my home , if I spread out my bed in darkness ,
and say to corruption , ‘ You (are) my father , ’ and to the worm , ‘ My mother , ’ or ‘My sister , ’
where then is my hope ? Who can see any hope for me ?
Will it go down to the gates of Sheol ? - Will we go down together into the dust ? ”