Understand every verse you read with Bible Gateway Plus. Read Scripture ad-free and access trusted study tools beside every passage. Try it FREE for 7 days.
Log In/Sign Up

#
Job 17
New King James Version

### Job Prays for Relief

17 “My spirit is broken,
My days are extinguished,
(A)The grave is ready for me.
2 Are not mockers with me?
And does not my eye [a]dwell on their (B)provocation?

3 “Now put down a pledge for me with Yourself.
Who is he who (C)will shake hands with me?
4 For You have hidden their heart from (D)understanding;
Therefore You will not exalt them.
5 He who speaks flattery to his friends,
Even the eyes of his children will (E)fail.

6 “But He has made me (F)a byword of the people,
And I have become one in whose face men spit.
7 (G)My eye has also grown dim because of sorrow,
And all my members are like shadows.
8 Upright men are astonished at this,
And the innocent stirs himself up against the hypocrite.
9 Yet the righteous will hold to his (H)way,
And he who has (I)clean hands will be stronger and stronger.

10 “But please, (J)come back again, [b]all of you,
For I shall not find one wise man among you.
11 (K)My days are past,
My purposes are broken off,
Even the [c]thoughts of my heart.
12 They change the night into day;
‘The light is near,’ they say, in the face of darkness.
13 If I wait for the grave as my house,
If I make my bed in the darkness,
14 If I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’
And to the worm, ‘You are my mother and my sister,’
15 Where then is my (L)hope?
As for my hope, who can see it?
16 Will they go down (M)to the gates of [d]Sheol?
Shall we have (N)rest together in the dust?”

#### Footnotes

1. Job 17:2 Lit. lodge
2. Job 17:10 So with some Heb. mss., LXX, Syr., Vg.; MT, Tg. all of them
3. Job 17:11 desires
4. Job 17:16 The abode of the dead

#### Cross references

1. Job 17:1 : Ps. 88:3, 4
2. Job 17:2 : 1 Sam. 1:6; Job 12:4; 17:6; 30:1, 9; 34:7
3. Job 17:3 : Prov. 6:1; 17:18; 22:26
4. Job 17:4 : Job 12:20; 32:9
5. Job 17:5 : Job 11:20
6. Job 17:6 : Job 30:9
7. Job 17:7 : Ps. 6:7; 31:9
8. Job 17:9 : Prov. 4:18
9. Job 17:9 : Ps. 24:4
10. Job 17:10 : Job 6:29
11. Job 17:11 : Job 7:6
12. Job 17:15 : Job 7:6; 13:15; 14:19; 19:10
13. Job 17:16 : Jon. 2:6
14. Job 17:16 : Job 3:17–19; 21:33

New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

#### Bible Gateway Recommends

NKJV, Spirit-Filled Life Bible, Third Edition, Red Letter Edition, Comfort Print: Kingdom Equipping Through the Power of the Word
Retail: $59.99
Our Price: $41.99
Save: $18.00 (30%)
Buy Now
NKJV, Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, 2nd Edition, Comfort Print: Growing in Knowledge and Understanding of God Through His Word
Retail: $59.99
Our Price: $41.99
Save: $18.00 (30%)
Buy Now
NKJV, The Everyday Bible, Red Letter, Comfort Print: 365 Daily Readings Through the Whole Bible
Retail: $29.99
Our Price: $20.99
Save: $9.00 (30%)
Buy Now
NKJV Study Bible, Full-Color, Comfort Print: The Complete Resource for Studying God’s Word
Retail: $59.99
Our Price: $41.99
Save: $18.00 (30%)
Buy Now
NKJV, Chronological Study Bible, Comfort Print: Holy Bible, New King James Version
Retail: $49.99
Our Price: $34.99
Save: $15.00 (30%)
Buy Now
NKJV, The Prayer Bible, Red Letter, Comfort Print
Retail: $59.99
Our Price: $35.99
Save: $24.00 (40%)
Buy Now
View more titles