[1] "My spirit is consumed, my days are extinct, And the grave is ready for me. [2] Surely there are mockers with me, My eye dwells on their provocation. [3] "Now give a pledge, be collateral for me with yourself. Who is there who will strike hands with me? [4] For you have hidden their heart from understanding, Therefore shall you not exalt them. [5] He who denounces his friends for a prey, Even the eyes of his children shall fail. [6] "But he has made me a byword of the people. They spit in my face. [7] My eye also is dim by reason of sorrow. All my members are as a shadow. [8] Upright men shall be astonished at this. The innocent shall stir up himself against the godless. [9] Yet shall the righteous hold on his way. He who has clean hands shall grow stronger and stronger. [10] But as for you all, come on now again; I shall not find a wise man among you. [11] My days are past, my plans are broken off, As are the thoughts of my heart. [12] They change the night into day, Saying `The light is near` in the presence of darkness. [13] If I look for Sheol as my house, If I have spread my couch in the darkness, [14] If I have said to corruption, `You are my father;` To the worm, `My mother,` and `my sister;` [15] Where then is my hope? As for my hope, who shall see it? [16] Shall it go down with me to the gates of Sheol, Or descend together into the dust?"