2If not—mockeries [are] with me. And my eye lodges in their provocations.

3Now place my pledge with You; Who is he that strikes hand with me?

4For You have hidden their heart from understanding, "" Therefore You do not exalt them.

5For a portion he shows friendship, "" And the eyes of his sons are consumed.

6And He set me up for a proverb of the peoples, "" And I am a wonder before them.

7And my eye is dim from sorrow, "" And my members—all of them—as a shadow.

8The upright are astonished at this, and the innocent stirs himself up against the profane.

9And the righteous lays hold [on] his way, "" And the clean of hands adds strength.

10But please return and come in, all of you, "" And I do not find a wise man among you.

11My days have passed by, "" My plans have been broken off, "" The possessions of my heart!

12They appoint night for day, "" Light [is] near because of darkness.

13If I wait—Sheol [is] my house, "" In darkness I have spread out my bed.

14To corruption I have called: You [are] my father. To the worm: My mother and my sister.

15And where [is] my hope now? Indeed, my hope, who beholds it?

16You go down [to] the parts of Sheol, "" If we may rest together on the dust.”