1
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“My spirit is broken; my days are extinguished; the grave awaits me. |
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2
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Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion. |
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3
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Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand. Who else will be my guarantor? |
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4
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You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore You will not exalt them. |
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5
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If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail. |
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6
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He has made me a byword among the people, a man in whose face they spit. |
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7
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My eyes have grown dim with grief, and my whole body is but a shadow. |
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8
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The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent are stirred against the godless. |
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9
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Yet a righteous one holds to his way, and the one with clean hands grows stronger. |
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10
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But come back and try again, all of you. For I will not find a wise man among you. |
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11
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My days have passed; my plans are broken off—even the desires of my heart. |
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12
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They have turned night into day, making light seem near in the face of darkness. |
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13
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If I look for Sheol as my home, if I spread out my bed in darkness, |
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14
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and say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’ |
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15
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where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me? |
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16
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Will it go down to the gates of Sheol? Will we go down together into the dust?” |
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