< Job 27 >
1 Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,
Job also added, taking up his parable, and said:
2 As God lives, who has taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who has vexed my soul;
As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment, and the Almighty, who hath brought my soul to bitterness,
3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
As long as breath remaineth in me, and the spirit of God in my nostrils,
4 My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
My lips shall not speak iniquity, neither shall my tongue contrive lying.
5 God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove my integrity from me.
God forbid that I should judge you to be just: till I die I will not depart from my innocence.
6 My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.
My justification, which I have begun to hold, I will not forsake: for my heart doth not reprehend me in all my life.
7 Let my enemy be as the wicked, and he that rises up against me as the unrighteous.
Let my enemy be as the ungodly, and my adversary as the wicked one.
8 For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he has gained, when God takes away his soul?
For what is the hope of the hypocrite if through covetousness he take by violence, and God deliver not his soul?
9 Will God hear his cry when trouble comes on him?
Will God hear his cry, when distress shall come upon him?
10 Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call on God?
Or can he delight himself in the Almighty, and call upon God at all times?
11 I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal.
I will teach you by the hand of God, what the Almighty hath, and I will not conceal it.
12 Behold, all you yourselves have seen it; why then are you thus altogether vain?
Behold you all know it, and why do you speak vain things without cause?
13 This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.
This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the inheritance of the violent, which they shall receive of the Almighty.
14 If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
If his sons be multiplied, they shall be for the sword, and his grandsons shall not be filled with bread.
15 Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.
They that shall remain of him, shall be buried in death, and his widows shall not weep.
16 Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;
If he shall heap together silver as earth, and prepare raiment as clay,
17 He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.
He shall prepare indeed, but the just man shall be clothed with it: and the innocent shall divide the silver.
18 He builds his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper makes.
He hath built his house as a moth, and as a keeper he hath made a booth.
19 The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he opens his eyes, and he is not.
The rich man when he shall sleep shall take away nothing with him: he shall open his eyes and find nothing.
20 Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest steals him away in the night.
Poverty like water shall take hold on him, a tempest shall oppress him in the night.
21 The east wind carries him away, and he departs: and as a storm hurls him out of his place.
A burning wind shall take him up, and carry him away, and as a whirlwind shall snatch him from his place.
22 For God shall cast on him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.
And he shall cast upon him, and shall not spare: out of his hand he would willingly flee.
23 Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.
He shall clasp his hands upon him, and shall hiss at him, beholding his place.