| King James Bible | New International Version |
| 1My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me. | 1My spirit is broken, my days are cut short, the grave awaits me. |
| 2Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation? | 2Surely mockers surround me; my eyes must dwell on their hostility. |
| 3Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me? | 3"Give me, O God, the pledge you demand. Who else will put up security for me? |
| 4For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them. | 4You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore you will not let them triumph. |
| 5He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail. | 5If anyone denounces their friends for reward, the eyes of their children will fail. |
| 6He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret. | 6"God has made me a byword to everyone, a man in whose face people spit. |
| 7Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow. | 7My eyes have grown dim with grief; my whole frame is but a shadow. |
| 8Upright men shall be astonied at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite. | 8The upright are appalled at this; the innocent are aroused against the ungodly. |
| 9The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger. | 9Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger. |
| 10But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for I cannot find one wise man among you. | 10"But come on, all of you, try again! I will not find a wise man among you. |
| 11My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart. | 11My days have passed, my plans are shattered. Yet the desires of my heart |
| 12They change the night into day: the light is short because of darkness. | 12turn night into day; in the face of the darkness light is near. |
| 13If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness. | 13If the only home I hope for is the grave, if I spread out my bed in the realm of darkness, |
| 14I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister. | 14if I say to corruption, 'You are my father,' and to the worm, 'My mother' or 'My sister,' |
| 15And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it? | 15where then is my hope-- who can see any hope for me? |
| 16They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust. | 16Will it go down to the gates of death? Will we descend together into the dust?" |
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