27:1 |
And Job continued his discourse: |
27:2 |
"As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice, the Almighty, who has made me taste bitterness of soul, |
27:3 |
as long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my nostrils, |
27:4 |
my lips will not speak wickedness, and my tongue will utter no deceit. |
27:5 |
I will never admit you are in the right; till I die, I will not deny my integrity. |
27:6 |
I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it; my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live. |
27:7 |
"May my enemies be like the wicked, my adversaries like the unjust! |
27:8 |
For what hope has the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life? |
27:9 |
Does God listen to his cry when distress comes upon him? |
27:10 |
Will he find delight in the Almighty? Will he call upon God at all times? |
27:11 |
"I will teach you about the power of God; the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal. |
27:12 |
You have all seen this yourselves. Why then this meaningless talk? |
27:13 |
"Here is the fate God allots to the wicked, the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty: |
27:14 |
However many his children, their fate is the sword; his offspring will never have enough to eat. |
27:15 |
The plague will bury those who survive him, and their widows will not weep for them. |
27:16 |
Though he heaps up silver like dust and clothes like piles of clay, |
27:17 |
what he lays up the righteous will wear, and the innocent will divide his silver. |
27:18 |
The house he builds is like a moth's cocoon, like a hut made by a watchman. |
27:19 |
He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more; when he opens his eyes, all is gone. |
27:20 |
Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest snatches him away in the night. |
27:21 |
The east wind carries him off, and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place. |
27:22 |
It hurls itself against him without mercy as he flees headlong from its power. |
27:23 |
It claps its hands in derision and hisses him out of his place. |
| |