Job 27

¹ And Job again took up his discourse and said:

² As God lives, who has taken away my right,
and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,

³ as long as my breath is in me,
and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,

⁴ my lips will not speak falsehood,
and my tongue will not utter deceit.

⁵ Far be it from me to say that you are right;
until I die I will not put away my integrity from me.

⁶ I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go;
my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.

⁷ Let my enemy be as the wicked,
and let him who rises against me be as the unrighteous.

⁸ For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off,
when God takes away his life?

⁹ Will God hear his cry
when distress comes upon him?

¹⁰ Will he take delight in the Almighty?
Will he call upon God at all times?

¹¹ I will teach you concerning the hand of God;
what is with the Almighty I will not conceal.

¹² Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves;
why then have you become altogether vain?

¹³ This is the portion of the wicked man with God,
the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty:

¹⁴ If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword;
and his descendants have not enough bread.

¹⁵ Those who survive him the plague buries,
and his widows do not weep.

¹⁶ Though he heaps up silver like dust
and piles up clothing like clay,

¹⁷ he may pile it up, but the righteous will wear it,
and the innocent will divide the silver.

¹⁸ He builds his house like a moth's cocoon,
like a booth that a watchman makes.

¹⁹ He goes to bed rich, but will do so no more;
he opens his eyes, and his wealth is gone.

²⁰ Terrors overtake him like a flood;
in the night a whirlwind carries him off.

²¹ The east wind lifts him up and he is gone;
it sweeps him out of his place.

²² It hurls at him without pity;
he flees from its power in headlong flight.

²³ It claps its hands at him
and hisses at him from its place.