Job 27
1 And Job adds to lift up his allegory and says:
Job began to speak again.
2 “God lives! He turned aside my judgment, And the Mighty—He made my soul bitter.
“I promise you—as God lives, who has denied me justice, the Almighty, who has made my life bitter,
3 For all the while my breath [is] in me, And the wind of God in my nostrils.
for as long as I have life, while the breath of God remains in my nostrils—
4 My lips do not speak perverseness, And my tongue does not utter deceit.
my lips will never speak lies, my tongue will never be dishonest.
5 Defilement to me—if I justify you, Until I expire I do not turn aside my integrity from me.
I will never agree that you are right; I will insist on my innocence until the day I die.
6 On my righteousness I have laid hold, And I do not let it go, My heart does not reproach me while I live.
I'm convinced I'm right and will never give up believing this; my conscience will not condemn me as long as I live.
7 My enemy is as the wicked, And my withstander as the perverse.
May my enemy become like the wicked; may those who oppose me become like those who do evil.
8 For what [is] the hope of the profane, When He cuts off? When God casts off his soul?
For what hope do those who reject God have when he cuts them down, when God brings their lives to an end?
9 [Does] God hear his cry, When distress comes on him?
When times of trouble come to them, will God hear their cry for help?
10 Does he delight himself on the Mighty? Call God at all times?
Do they have a good relationship with the Almighty? Can they call on God at any time?
11 I show you by the hand of God, That which [is] with the Mighty I do not hide.
Let me explain God's power to you. I will not keep anything back that the Almighty has planned.
12 Behold, you—all of you—have seen, And why [is] this—you are altogether vain?
If all of you have recognized this, why do you talk such vain nonsense?
13 This [is] the portion of wicked man with God, And the inheritance of terrible ones They receive from the Mighty.
This is what God provides as the destiny for the wicked, this is the inheritance that the ruthless will receive from the Almighty—
14 If his sons multiply—a sword [is] for them. And his offspring [are] not satisfied [with] bread.
even if they have many children, they will experience violent deaths or die of starvation.
15 His remnant are buried in death, And his widows do not weep.
Those who survive will die from disease, and even their widows will not mourn for them.
16 If he heaps up silver as dust, And prepares clothing as clay,
Even though they pile up silver like dust, and clothes like heaps of clay,
17 He prepares—and the righteous puts [it] on, And the innocent apportions the silver.
those who do good will wear the clothes and the innocent will divide the silver among them.
18 He has built his house as a moth, And as a shelter a watchman has made.
They build their houses like a moth; like some flimsy shelter made by a watchman.
19 He lies down rich, and he is not gathered, He has opened his eyes, and he is not.
They go to bed rich, but never again! For when they wake up, it's all gone.
20 Terrors overtake him as waters, By night a whirlwind has stolen him away.
Waves of panic flood over them; in the night a whirlwind snatches them away.
21 An east wind takes him up, and he goes, And it frightens him from his place,
The east wind picks them up and they're gone, carried away from where they were.
22 And it casts at him, and does not spare, He diligently flees from its hand.
The wind blows at them with full force; they try desperately to escape.
23 It claps its hands at him, And it hisses at him from his place.”
People clap their hands at them and hiss at them wherever they are.
