The Condition of the Wicked

27:7 “May my enemy be like the wicked,13

my adversary14 like the unrighteous.15

27:8 For what hope does the godless have when he is cut off,16

when God takes away his life?17

27:9 Does God listen to his cry

when distress overtakes him?

27:10 Will he find delight18 in the Almighty?

Will he call out to God at all times?

27:11 I will teach you19 about the power20 of God;

What is on the Almighty’s mind21 I will not conceal.

27:12 If you yourselves have all seen this,

Why in the world22 do you continue this meaningless talk?23

27:13 This is the portion of the wicked man

allotted by God,24

the inheritance that evildoers receive

from the Almighty.

27:14 If his children increase—it is for the sword!25

His offspring never have enough to eat.26

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

and their28 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 up29 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,30

like a hut31 that a watchman has made.

27:19 He goes to bed wealthy, but will do so no more.32

When he opens his eyes, it is all gone.33

27:20 Terrors overwhelm him like a flood;34

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 pity35

as he flees headlong from its power.

27:23 It claps36 its hands at him in derision

and hisses him away from his place.37

III. Job’s Search for Wisdom (28:1–28)