27
Job Affirms His Righteousness
1 Job continued his discourse and said,
2 “As God lives, who has taken away my right and denied me justice,
And the Almighty, who has caused bitterness and grief for my soul,
3 As long as my life is within me,
And the breath of God is [still] in my nostrils,
4 My lips will not speak unjustly,
Nor will my tongue utter deceit.
5 “Far be it from me that I should admit you are right [in your accusations against me];
Until I die, I will not remove my integrity from me.
6 “I hold fast my uprightness and my right standing with God and I will not let them go;
My heart does not reproach me for any of my days.
The State of the Godless
7 “May my enemy be as the wicked,
And he who rises up against me be as the unrighteous (unjust).
8 “For what is the hope of the godless, even though he has gained [in this world],
When God takes his life?
9 “Will God hear his cry
When trouble and distress come upon him?
10 “Will he take delight in the Almighty?
Will he call on God at all times?
11 “I will teach you regarding the hand (power) of God;
I will not conceal what is with the Almighty [God’s actual treatment of the wicked].
12 “Behold, all of you have seen it;
Why then do you act vainly and foolishly [cherishing worthless concepts]?
13 “This [which I am about to explain] is the portion of a wicked man from God,
And the inheritance which tyrants and oppressors receive from the Almighty:
14 “Though his children are many, they are destined for the sword;
And his descendants will not have sufficient bread.
15 “Those who survive him will be buried because of the plague,
And [their] widows will not be able to weep.
16 “Though he heaps up silver like dust
And piles up clothing like clay,
17 He may prepare it, but the just will wear it
And the innocent will divide the silver.
18 “He builds his house like a spider’s web,
Like a (temporary) hut which a watchman makes.
19 “He lies down rich, but never will again;
He opens his eyes, and it is gone.
20 “Terrors overtake him like a [suddenly rising] flood;
A windstorm steals him away in the night.
21 “The east wind lifts him up, and he is gone;
It sweeps him out of his place.
22 “For it will hurl [thunderbolts of God’s wrath] at him unsparingly and without compassion;
He flees in haste from its power.
23 “People will clap their hands at him [to mock and ridicule him]
And hiss him out of his place.