| English Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1“My spirit is broken; my days are extinct; the graveyard is ready for me. | 1My spirit is broken. My days are extinguished. A graveyard awaits me. |
| 2Surely there are mockers about me, and my eye dwells on their provocation. | 2Surely mockers surround me and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion. |
| 3“Lay down a pledge for me with you; who is there who will put up security for me? | 3Make arrangements! Put up security for me. Who else will be my sponsor? |
| 4Since you have closed their hearts to understanding, therefore you will not let them triumph. | 4You have closed their minds to understanding, therefore You will not honor them. |
| 5He who informs against his friends to get a share of their property— the eyes of his children will fail. | 5If a man informs on his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail. |
| 6“He has made me a byword of the peoples, and I am one before whom men spit. | 6He has made me an object of scorn to the people; I have become a man people spit at. |
| 7My eye has grown dim from vexation, and all my members are like a shadow. | 7My eyes have grown dim from grief, and my whole body has become but a shadow. |
| 8The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless. | 8The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent are roused against the godless. |
| 9Yet the righteous holds to his way, and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger. | 9Yet the righteous person will hold to his way, and the one whose hands are clean will grow stronger. |
| 10But you, come on again, all of you, and I shall not find a wise man among you. | 10But come back and try again, all of you. I will not find a wise man among you. |
| 11My days are past; my plans are broken off, the desires of my heart. | 11My days have slipped by; my plans have been ruined, even the things dear to my heart. |
| 12They make night into day: ‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’ | 12They turned night into day and made light seem near in the face of darkness. |
| 13If I hope for Sheol as my house, if I make my bed in darkness, | 13If I await Sheol as my home, spread out my bed in darkness, |
| 14if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’ | 14and say to corruption: You are my father, and to the maggot: My mother or my sister, |
| 15where then is my hope? Who will see my hope? | 15where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me? |
| 16Will it go down to the bars of Sheol? Shall we descend together into the dust?” | 16Will it go down to the gates of Sheol, or will we descend together to the dust? |
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