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