Job 27:1-23

A Protest of Innocence

27:1 And Job took up his discourse again:

27:2 “As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,

the Almighty, who has made my life bitter –

27:3 for while my spirit is still in me,

and the breath from God is in my nostrils,

27:4 my lips will not speak wickedness,

and my tongue will whisper no deceit.

27:5 I will never declare that you three are in the right;

until I die, I will not set aside my integrity!

27:6 I will maintain my righteousness

and never let it go;

my conscience will not reproach me

for as long as I live.

The Condition of the Wicked

27:7 “May my enemy be like the wicked,

my adversary like the unrighteous.

27:8 For what hope does the godless have when he is cut off,

when God takes away his life?

27:9 Does God listen to his cry

when distress overtakes him?

27:10 Will he find delight in the Almighty?

Will he call out to God at all times?

27:11 I will teach you about the power of God;

What is on the Almighty’s mind I will not conceal.

27:12 If you yourselves have all seen this,

Why in the world do you continue this meaningless talk?

27:13 This is the portion of the wicked man

allotted by God,

the inheritance that evildoers receive

from the Almighty.

27:14 If his children increase – it is for the sword!

His offspring never have enough to eat.

27:15 Those who survive him are buried by the plague,

and their widows do not mourn for them.

27:16 If he piles up silver like dust

and stores up clothing like mounds of clay,

27:17 what he stores up a righteous man will wear,

and an innocent man will inherit his silver.

27:18 The house he builds is as fragile as a moth’s cocoon,

like a hut that a watchman has made.

27:19 He goes to bed wealthy, but will do so no more.

When he opens his eyes, it is all gone.

27:20 Terrors overwhelm him like a flood;

at night a whirlwind carries him off.

27:21 The east wind carries him away, and he is gone;

it sweeps him out of his place.

27:22 It hurls itself against him without pity

as he flees headlong from its power.

27:23 It claps its hands at him in derision

and hisses him away from his place.