📖 Job — Chapter 17 (KJV)
Read the complete King James Version chapter below, then explore the passage sections, check what you remember, and keep your private study notes.
Scripture source: Project Gutenberg KJV, ebook 10.
Job 17:1 My RTbreath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.
Job 17:2 Are there not Rmockers with me? and doth not mine eye Tcontinue in their provocation?
Job 17:3 Lay down now, Rput me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?
Job 17:4 For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them.
Job 17:5 RHe that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail.
Job 17:6 He hath made me also a byword of the people; and Taforetime I was Ras a tabret.
Job 17:7 RMine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all Tmy members are as a shadow.
Job 17:8 Upright men shall be Rastonied at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite.
Job 17:9 The righteous also shall Rhold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall Tbe stronger and stronger.
Job 17:10 But as for you all, Rdo ye return, and come now: for I cannot find one wise man among you.
Job 17:11 RMy days are past, my purposes are broken off, even Tthe thoughts of my heart.
Job 17:12 They Rchange the night into day: the light is Tshort because of darkness.
Job 17:13 RIf I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.
Job 17:14 I have Tsaid to Rcorruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister.
Job 17:15 And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it?
Job 17:16 They shall go down to Rthe bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust.
📚 Study This Chapter
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 17:1–5 — Job feels near death and without support
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Job describes his failing life and the mockers around him. He asks for a surety and laments their lack of understanding. The words arise from isolation as well as bodily pain. A friend who listens carefully can avoid becoming another source of mockery or an empty promise in such distress.
Key Truth: Let support be trustworthy rather than dismissive.
Check What You Remember
1. What does Job say is ready for him? (Job 17:1)
Find it in Job 17:1 (KJV).
2. What kind of people does he feel are with him? (Job 17:2)
Find it in Job 17:2 (KJV).
3. What pledge-like help does he request? (Job 17:3)
Find it in Job 17:3 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 17:6–10 — Disgrace and perseverance
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Job speaks of being a byword and physically weakened by sorrow. Yet he says the righteous will hold to their way and grow stronger with clean hands. His severe experience does not remove his concern with integrity. He still challenges his friends' claim to wisdom because their words do not meet the truth of his situation.
Key Truth: Integrity can remain important amid shame and weakness.
Check What You Remember
1. What has become dim because of sorrow? (Job 17:7)
Find it in Job 17:7 (KJV).
2. Who will hold on his way? (Job 17:9)
Find it in Job 17:9 (KJV).
3. What clean body part describes the persevering person? (Job 17:9)
Find it in Job 17:9 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 17:11–16 — Broken purposes and the question of hope
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Job describes his plans broken off and imagines the grave as home. He asks where his hope can now be seen. The chapter leaves that question within his limited, suffering perspective. Readers should neither turn it into a universal denial of hope nor force him to speak as if he already sees the ending.
Key Truth: Make room for grief over lost plans.
Check What You Remember
1. What does Job say has been broken off? (Job 17:11)
Find it in Job 17:11 (KJV).
2. What does he call his house if he waits? (Job 17:13)
Find it in Job 17:13 (KJV).
3. What does he ask about in verse 15? (Job 17:15)
Find it in Job 17:15 (KJV).
Related Scripture (KJV)
Psalms 42:5 — The psalm's questioning and hope offer another example of struggle spoken before God.
This related passage is selected for its connection with this chapter. It is separate from the chapter text.
Reflect and Apply
How can you acknowledge broken plans without judging yourself or another person for grieving them?
Advanced Questions and Answers
Study this chapter’s wording, patterns, contrasts, and meaning in greater depth.
1. How does the opening place Job’s plea for surety in context?
2. How does Job contrast upright observers with the friends?
3. What does stronger and stronger accompany?
4. What makes the loss of purposes more than a bodily complaint?
5. How do house and family images intensify the closing lament?
Notes
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