Job Continues to Defend His Innocence

1“My spirit is crushed,

and my life is nearly snuffed out.

The grave is ready to receive me.

2I am surrounded by mockers.

I watch how bitterly they taunt me.

3“You must defend my innocence, O God,

since no one else will stand up for me.

4You have closed their minds to understanding,

but do not let them triumph.

5They betray their friends for their own advantage,

so let their children faint with hunger.

6“God has made a mockery of me among the people;

they spit in my face.

7My eyes are swollen with weeping,

and I am but a shadow of my former self.

8The virtuous are horrified when they see me.

The innocent rise up against the ungodly.

9The righteous keep moving forward,

and those with clean hands become stronger and stronger.

10“As for all of you, come back with a better argument,

though I still won’t find a wise man among you.

11My days are over.

My hopes have disappeared.

My heart’s desires are broken.

12These men say that night is day;

they claim that the darkness is light.

13What if I go to the gravea

and make my bed in darkness?

14What if I call the grave my father,

and the maggot my mother or my sister?

15Where then is my hope?

Can anyone find it?

16No, my hope will go down with me to the grave.

We will rest together in the dust!”