1 O meu espírito se vai consumindo,
os meus dias se vão apagando,
e só tenho perante mim a sepultura.
2 Estou, de fato, cercado de zombadores,
e os meus olhos são obrigados a lhes contemplar a provocação.
3 Dá-me, pois, um penhor; sê o meu fiador para contigo mesmo;
quem mais haverá que se possa comprometer comigo?
4 Porque ao seu coração encobriste o entendimento,
pelo que não os exaltarás.
5 Se alguém oferece os seus amigos como presa,
os olhos de seus filhos desfalecerão.
6 Mas a mim me pôs por provérbio dos povos;
tornei-me como aquele em cujo rosto se cospe.
7 Pelo que já se escureceram de mágoa os meus olhos,
e já todos os meus membros são como a sombra;
8 os retos pasmam disto,
e o inocente se levanta contra o ímpio.
9 Contudo, o justo segue o seu caminho,
e o puro de mãos cresce mais e mais em força.
10 Mas tornai-vos, todos vós, e vinde cá;
porque sábio nenhum acharei entre vós.
11 Os meus dias passaram, e se malograram os meus propósitos,
as aspirações do meu coração.
12 Convertem-me a noite em dia,
e a luz, dizem, está perto das trevas.
13 Mas, se eu aguardo já a sepultura por minha casa;
se nas trevas estendo a minha cama;
14 se ao sepulcro eu clamo: tu és meu pai;
e aos vermes: vós sois minha mãe e minha irmã,
15 onde está, pois, a minha esperança?
Sim, a minha esperança, quem a poderá ver?
16 Ela descerá até às portas da morte,
quando juntamente no pó teremos descanso.
1 My spirit is consumed, my days are extinct,
The grave is ready for me.
2 Surely there are mockers with me,
And mine eye dwelleth upon their provocation.
3 Give now a pledge, be surety for me with thyself;
Who is there that will strike hands with me?
4 For thou hast hid their heart from understanding:
Therefore shalt thou not exalt them.
5 He that denounceth his friends for a prey,
Even the eyes of his children shall fail.
6 But he hath made me a byword of the people;
And they spit in my face.
7 Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow,
And all my members are as a shadow.
8 Upright men shall be astonished at this,
And the innocent shall stir up himself against the godless.
9 Yet shall the righteous hold on his way,
And he that hath clean hands shall wax stronger and stronger.
10 But as for you all, come on now again;
And I shall not find a wise man among you.
11 My days are past, my purposes are broken off,
Even the thoughts of my heart.
12 They change the night into day:
The light, say they, is near unto the darkness.
13 If I look for Sheol as my house;
If I have spread my couch in the darkness;
14 If I have said to corruption, Thou art my father;
To the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister;
15 Where then is my hope?
And as for my hope, who shall see it?
16 It shall go down to the bars of Sheol,
When once there is rest in the dust.
1 My spirit is broken, my days are cut short, the grave awaits me.
2 Surely mockers surround me; my eyes must dwell on their hostility.
3 "Give me, O God, the pledge you demand. Who else will put up security for me?
4 You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore you will not let them triumph.
5 If anyone denounces their friends for reward, the eyes of their children will fail.
6 "God has made me a byword to everyone, a man in whose face people spit.
7 My eyes have grown dim with grief; my whole frame is but a shadow.
8 The upright are appalled at this; the innocent are aroused against the ungodly.
9 Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger.
10 "But come on, all of you, try again! I will not find a wise man among you.
11 My days have passed, my plans are shattered. Yet the desires of my heart
12 turn night into day; in the face of the darkness light is near.
13 If the only home I hope for is the grave, if I spread out my bed in the realm of darkness,
14 if I say to corruption, 'You are my father,' and to the worm, 'My mother' or 'My sister,'
15 where then is my hope — who can see any hope for me?
16 Will it go down to the gates of death? Will we descend together into the dust?"