Job’s Final Word to His Friends

27 And Job continued his discourse:p

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

the Almighty,r who has made my life bitter,s

3 as long as I have life within me,

the breath of Godt in my nostrils,

4 my lips will not say anything wicked,

and my tongue will not utter lies.u

5 I will never admit you are in the right;

till I die, I will not deny my integrity.v

6 I will maintain my innocencew and never let go of it;

my consciencex will not reproach me as long as I live.y

7 “May my enemy be like the wicked,z

my adversarya like the unjust!

8 For what hope have the godlessb when they are cut off,

when God takes away their life?c

9 Does God listen to their cry

when distress comes upon them?d

10 Will they find delight in the Almighty?e

Will they call on God at all times?

11 “I will teach you about the power of God;

the waysf of the Almighty I will not conceal.g

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:h

14 However many his children,i their fate is the sword;j

his offspring will never have enough to eat.k

15 The plague will bury those who survive him,

and their widows will not weep for them.l

16 Though he heaps up silver like dustm

and clothes like piles of clay,n

17 what he lays upo the righteous will wear,p

and the innocent will divide his silver.q

18 The houser he builds is like a moth’s cocoon,s

like a hutt made by a watchman.

19 He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;u

when he opens his eyes, all is gone.v

20 Terrorsw overtake him like a flood;x

a tempest snatches him away in the night.y

21 The east windz carries him off, and he is gone;a

it sweeps him out of his place.b

22 It hurls itself against him without mercyc

as he flees headlongd from its power.e

23 It claps its handsf in derision

and hisses him out of his place.”g