Job 27

1 And Job continued his discourse:

2 “As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,
the Almighty, who has made me taste bitterness of soul,

3 as long as I have life within me,
the breath of God in my nostrils,

4 my lips will not speak wickedness,
and my tongue will utter no deceit.

5 I will never admit you are in the right;
till I die, I will not deny my integrity.

6 I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it;
my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.

7 “May my enemies be like the wicked,
my adversaries like the unjust!

8 For what hope has the godless when he is cut off,
when God takes away his life?

9 Does God listen to his cry
when distress comes upon him?

10 Will he find delight in the Almighty?
Will he call upon God at all times?

11 “I will teach you about the power of God;
the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal.

12 You have all seen this yourselves.
Why then this meaningless talk?

13 “Here is the fate God allots to the wicked,
the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:

14 However many his children, their fate is the sword;
his offspring will never have enough to eat.

15 The plague will bury those who survive him,
and their widows will not weep for them.

16 Though he heaps up silver like dust
and clothes like piles of clay,

17 what he lays up the righteous will wear,
and the innocent will divide his silver.

18 The house he builds is like a moth's cocoon,
like a hut made by a watchman.

19 He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;
when he opens his eyes, all is gone.

20 Terrors overtake him like a flood;
a tempest snatches him away in the night.

21 The east wind carries him off, and he is gone;
it sweeps him out of his place.

22 It hurls itself against him without mercy
as he flees headlong from its power.

23 It claps its hands in derision
and hisses him out of his place.

JOB 27

Job Continues

I Am Desperate

1 Job said:

2 I am desperate because
God All-Powerful refuses
to do what is right.
As surely as God lives,

3 and while he gives me breath,

4 I will tell only the truth.

5 Until the day I die,
I will refuse to do wrong
by saying you are right,

6 because each day my conscience
agrees that I am innocent.

7 I pray that my enemies
will suffer no less
than the wicked.

8 Such people are hopeless,
and God All-Powerful
will cut them down,

9 without listening
when they beg for mercy.

10 And that is what God should do,
because they don't like him
or ever pray.

11 Now I will explain in detail
what God All-Powerful does.

12 All of you have seen these things
for yourselves.
So you have no excuse.

How God Treats the Wicked

13 Here is how God All-Powerful
treats those who are wicked
and brutal.

14 They may have many children,
but most of them will go hungry
or suffer a violent death.

15 Others will die of disease,
and their widows
won't be able to weep.

16 The wicked may collect riches
and clothes in abundance
as easily as clay.

17 But God's people will wear
clothes taken from them
and divide up their riches.

18 No homes built by the wicked
will outlast a cocoon
or a shack.

19 Those sinners may go to bed rich,
but they will wake up poor.t

20 Terror will strike at night
like a flood or a storm.

21 Then a scorching wind
will sweep them away

22 without showing mercy,
as they try to escape.

23 At last, the wind will celebrate
because they are gone.