< Job 27 >
1 Moreover, Job continued his parable, and said,
And Job adds to lift up his allegory and says:
2 [As] God liveth, [who] hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty [who] hath afflicted my soul;
“God lives! He turned aside my judgment, And the Mighty—He made my soul bitter.
3 All the while my breath [is] in me, and the spirit of God [is] in my nostrils;
For all the while my breath [is] in me, And the wind of God in my nostrils.
4 My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
My lips do not speak perverseness, And my tongue does not utter deceit.
5 Far be it from me that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove my integrity from me.
Defilement to me—if I justify you, Until I expire I do not turn aside my integrity from me.
6 My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach [me] so long as I live.
On my righteousness I have laid hold, And I do not let it go, My heart does not reproach me while I live.
7 Let my enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.
My enemy is as the wicked, And my withstander as the perverse.
8 For what [is] the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?
For what [is] the hope of the profane, When He cuts off? When God casts off his soul?
9 Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?
[Does] God hear his cry, When distress comes on him?
10 Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?
Does he delight himself on the Mighty? Call 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 show you by the hand of God, That which [is] with the Mighty I do not hide.
12 Behold, all ye yourselves have seen [it]; why then are ye thus altogether vain?
Behold, you—all of you—have seen, And why [is] this—you are altogether vain?
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 wicked man with God, And the inheritance of terrible ones They receive from the Mighty.
14 If his children are multiplied, [it is] for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
If his sons multiply—a sword [is] for them. And his offspring [are] not satisfied [with] bread.
15 Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.
His remnant are buried in death, And his widows do not weep.
16 Though he should heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay?
If he heaps up silver as dust, And prepares clothing as clay,
17 He may prepare [it], but the just shall put [it] on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.
He prepares—and the righteous puts [it] on, And the innocent apportions the silver.
18 He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth [that] the keeper maketh.
He has built his house as a moth, And as a shelter a watchman has made.
19 The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he [is] not.
He lies down rich, and he is not gathered, He has opened his eyes, and he is not.
20 Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.
Terrors overtake him as waters, By night a whirlwind has stolen him away.
21 The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place.
An east wind takes him up, and he goes, And it frightens him from his place,
22 For [God] shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.
And it casts at him, and does not spare, He diligently flees from its hand.
23 [Men] shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.
It claps its hands at him, And it hisses at him from his place.”