Job’s Final Reply to His Friends
1Job continued to speak. He said,
2 “God hasn’t treated me fairly.
The Mighty One has made my life bitter.
You can be sure that God lives.
And here’s something else you can be sure of.
3 As long as I have life
and God gives me breath,
4 my mouth won’t say evil things.
My lips won’t tell lies.
5 I’ll never admit you people are right.
Until I die, I’ll say I’m telling the truth.
6 I’ll continue to say I’m right.
I’ll never let go of that.
I won’t blame myself as long as I live.
7 “May my enemies suffer like sinful people!
May my attackers be punished like those who aren’t fair!
8 What hope do ungodly people have when their lives are cut short?
What hope do they have when God takes away their lives?
9 God won’t listen to their cry
when trouble comes on them.
10 They won’t take delight in the Mighty One.
They’ll never call out to God.
11 “I’ll teach all of you about God’s power.
I won’t hide the things the Mighty One does.
12 You have seen those things yourselves.
So why do you continue your useless talk?
13 “Here’s what God does to sinful people.
Here’s what those who are mean receive from the Mighty One.
14 All their children will be killed by swords.
They’ll never have enough to eat.
15 A plague will kill those who are left alive.
The widows of sinful men
won’t even weep over their own children.
16 Sinners might store up silver like dust
and clothes like piles of clay.
17 But people who do what is right will wear those clothes.
People who haven’t done anything wrong
will divide up that silver.
18 The house an evil person builds is like a moth’s cocoon.
It’s like a hut that’s made by someone on guard duty.
19 Sinful people lie down wealthy, but their wealth is taken away.
When they open their eyes, everything is gone.
20 Terrors sweep over them like a flood.
A storm takes them away during the night.
21 The east wind carries them off, and they are gone.
It sweeps them out of their houses.
22 It blows against them without mercy.
They try to escape from its power.
23 It claps its hands and makes fun of them.
It hisses them out of their houses.”