Job laments his suffering and feels his life is being wasted, despite not having sinned. He asks God to free him and allow him to rest, but feels God has abandoned him and his companions. Job's suffering has become a spectacle for others, and he feels his dignity has been reduced to nothing. He urges his friends to turn back to wisdom, but feels his own life is slipping away into darkness and death.
1 My spirit will be wasted, my days will be shortened, and only the grave will be left for me 2 I have not sinned, yet my eye remains in bitterness 3 Free me, O Lord, and set me beside you, and let the hand of anyone you wish fight against me 4 You have set their heart far from discipline; therefore, they will not be praised 5 He promises prey to his companions, but the eyes of his sons will grow faint 6 He has posted me like a proverb to the people, and I am an example in their presence 7 My eyesight has been clouded by indignation, and my limbs have been reduced, as if to nothing 8 The just will be astounded over this, and the innocent will be stirred up against the hypocrite 9 And the just will cling to his way, and clean hands will increase strength 10 Therefore, be converted, all of you, and approach, for I do not find in you any wisdom 11 My days have passed away; my thoughts have been scattered, tormenting my heart 12 They have turned night into day, and I hope for light again after the darkness 13 If I should wait, the underworld is my house, and in darkness I have spread out my bed 14 I have said to decay and to worms: "You are my father, my mother, and my sister. 15 Therefore, where is my expectation now, and who is it that considers my patience 16 Everything of mine will descend into the deepest underworld; do you think that, in that place at least, there will be rest for me