17 “I am sick and near to death; the grave is ready to receive me. 2 I am surrounded by mockers. I see them everywhere. 3-4 Will no one anywhere confirm my innocence? But you, O God, have kept them back from understanding this. Oh, do not let them triumph. 5 If they accept bribes to denounce their friends, their children shall go blind.
6 “He has made me a mockery among the people; they spit in my face. 7 My eyes are dim with weeping and I am but a shadow of my former self. 8 Fair-minded men are astonished when they see me.
“Yet, finally, the innocent shall come out on top, above the godless; 9 the righteous shall move onward and forward; those with pure hearts shall become stronger and stronger.
10 “As for you—all of you please go away; for I do not find a wise man among you. 11 My good days are in the past. My hopes have disappeared. My heart’s desires are broken. 12 They say that night is day and day is night; how they pervert the truth!
13-14 “If I die, I go out into darkness, and call the grave my father, and the worm my mother and my sister. 15 Where then is my hope? Can anyone find any? 16 No, my hope will go down with me to the grave. We shall rest together in the dust!”