| New International Version | English Standard Version |
| 1My spirit is broken, my days are cut short, the grave awaits me. | 1“My spirit is broken; my days are extinct; the graveyard is ready for me. |
| 2Surely mockers surround me; my eyes must dwell on their hostility. | 2Surely 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 you; who is there who will put up security for me? |
| 4You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore you will not let them triumph. | 4Since you have closed their hearts to understanding, therefore you will not let them triumph. |
| 5If anyone denounces their friends for reward, the eyes of their children will fail. | 5He 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. |
| 7My eyes have grown dim with grief; my whole frame is but a shadow. | 7My eye has grown dim from vexation, and all my members are like a shadow. |
| 8The upright are appalled at this; the innocent are aroused against the ungodly. | 8The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless. |
| 9Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger. | 9Yet the righteous holds to his way, and he who 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. | 10But you, come on again, all of you, and I shall not find a wise man among you. |
| 11My days have passed, my plans are shattered. Yet the desires of my heart | 11My days are past; my plans are broken off, the desires of my heart. |
| 12turn night into day; in the face of the darkness light is near. | 12They make night into day: ‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’ |
| 13If the only home I hope for is the grave, if I spread out my bed in the realm of darkness, | 13If I hope for Sheol as my house, if I make my bed in darkness, |
| 14if I say to corruption, 'You are my father,' and to the worm, 'My mother' or 'My sister,' | 14if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’ |
| 15where then is my hope-- who can see any hope for me? | 15where then is my hope? Who will see my hope? |
| 16Will it go down to the gates of death? Will we descend together into the dust?" | 16Will it go down to the bars of Sheol? Shall we descend together into the dust?” |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
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