(After Joseph is sold and reported dead to Jacob)
All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “in mourning will I go down to the grave [Sheol] to my son.” So his father wept for him.
But Jacob said, “My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave [Sheol] in sorrow.”
27“Your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28One of them went away from me, and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.” And I have not seen him since. 29If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave [Sheol] in misery.’
30So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy's life, 31sees that the boy isn't there, he will die. Your servants will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave [Sheol] in sorrow.”
(From Job's speech starting in Job 9:2)
20Are not my days few?
Cease! Leave me alone, that I may take a little comfort,
21Before I go to the place from which I shall not return,
To the land of darkness and the shadow of death,
22A land as dark as darkness itself,
As the shadow of death, without any order,
Where even the light is like darkness.
(From Job's speech starting in Job 16:2)
11My days are past,
My purposes are broken off,
Even the thoughts of my heart.
12They change the night into day;
“The light is near,” they say, in the face of darkness.
13If I wait for the grave [Sheol] as my house,
If I make my bed in the darkness,
14If I say to corruption, “You are my father”,
And to the worm, “You are my mother and my sister”,
15Where then is my hope?
As for my hope, who can see it?
16Will they go down to the gates of Sheol?
Shall we have rest together in the dust?
(From Job's speech starting in Job 19:2)
25For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth;
26And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,
That in my flesh I shall see God,
27Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!
No one remembers you when he is dead. Who praises you from the grave [Sheol]?
As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness;
I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.
What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth?
10Will You work wonders for the dead?
Shall the dead arise and praise You? Selah
11Shall Your loving-kindness be declared in the grave?
Or Your faithfulness in the place of destruction?
12Shall Your wonders be known in the dark?
And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
17The dead do not praise the Lord,
Nor any who go down into silence.
18But we will bless the Lord
From this time forth and forevermore.
Praise the Lord!
I shall not die, but live,
And declare the works of the Lord.
1Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2While I live I will praise the Lord;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. [while I have my being: ydIA[B.]
3Do not put your trust in princes,
Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.
4His spirit departs, he returns to his earth;
In that very day his plans perish.
5For the living know that they will die;
But the dead know nothing,
And they have no more reward,
For the memory of them is forgotten.
6Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished;
Nevermore will they have a share
In anything done under the sun.
10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave [Sheol] where you are going.
Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it.
(Hezekiah's praise of God after being spared from his illness)
For the grave [Sheol] cannot praise you,
death cannot sing your praise;
those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness.
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life,
some to shame and everlasting contempt.
[Heb: And... awake: Wcyqiy" rp'['-tm;d>a; ynEveY>mi ~yBir;w>]