Job
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Job 27

Job Affirms His Righteousness

1Then Job [a]continued his discourse and said,

2 “As God lives, who has taken away my right,
And the Almighty, who has embittered my soul,
3 For as long as [b]life is in me,
And the [c]breath of God is in my nostrils,
4 My lips certainly will not speak unjustly,
Nor will my tongue mutter deceit.
5 “Far be it from me that I should declare you right;
Till 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 any of my days.

The State of the Godless

7 “May my enemy be as the wicked
And [d]my opponent as the unjust.
8 “For what is the hope of the godless [e]when he is cut off,
When God requires his [f]life?
9 “Will God hear his cry
When distress comes upon him?
10 “Will he take delight in the Almighty?
Will he call on God at all times?
11 “I will instruct you in the [g]power of God;
What is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
12 “Behold, all of you have seen it;
Why then do you [h]act foolishly?

13 “This is the portion of a wicked man from God,
And the inheritance which tyrants receive from the Almighty.
14 “Though his sons are many, [i]they are destined for the sword;
And his descendants will not be satisfied with bread.
15 “His survivors will be buried because of the plague,
And [j]their widows will not be able to weep.
16 “Though he piles up silver like dust
And prepares garments as plentiful as the clay,
17 He may prepare it, but the just will wear it
And the innocent will divide the silver.
18 “He has built his house like the [k]spider’s web,
Or as a hut which the watchman has made.
19 “He lies down rich, but never [l]again;
He opens his eyes, and it is no longer.
20 “Terrors overtake him like a flood;
A tempest steals him away in the night.
21 “The east wind carries him away, and he is gone,
For it whirls him away from his place.
22 “For it will hurl at him without sparing;
He will surely try to flee from its [m]power.
23 “Men will clap their hands at him
And will hiss him from his place.

Footnotes

  1. Job 27:1 Or again took up
  2. Job 27:3 Lit breath
  3. Job 27:3 Or spirit
  4. Job 27:7 Lit he who rises up against me
  5. Job 27:8 Or though he gains
  6. Job 27:8 Lit soul
  7. Job 27:11 Lit hand
  8. Job 27:12 Or speak vanity
  9. Job 27:14 Lit the sword is for them
  10. Job 27:15 So ancient versions; Heb his
  11. Job 27:18 So ancient versions; Heb moth
  12. Job 27:19 So ancient versions; Heb will be gathered
  13. Job 27:22 Lit hand
Job 27