Job, 27

¹ And Job proceeded again to lift up his proverbial utterance and went on to say:

² “As God^*1 lives, who has taken away my judgment, And as the Almighty [lives], who has made my soul bitter,

³ While my breath is yet whole within me, And the spirit of God^*1 is in my nostrils,

⁴ My lips will speak no unrighteousness And my own tongue will mutter no deceit!

⁵ It is unthinkable on my part that I should declare YOU men righteous! Until I expire I shall not take away my integrity from myself!

⁶ On my justness I have laid hold, and I shall not let it go; My heart will not taunt [me] for any of my days.

⁷ Let my enemy become in every way a wicked man, And the one revolting against me really a wrongdoer.

⁸ For what is the hope of an apostate in case he cuts [him] off, In case God^*1 carries off his soul from him?

⁹ Will God^*1 hear an outcry of his In case distress comes upon him?

¹⁰ Or in the Almighty will he find exquisite delight? Will he call to God at all times?

¹¹ I shall instruct YOU men by the hand of God; That which is with the Almighty I shall not hide.

¹² Look! YOU yourselves have all of YOU seen visions; So why is it that YOU show yourselves utterly vain?

¹³ This is the share of the wicked man^*1 from God; And the inheritance of the tyrants they will receive from the Almighty himself.

¹⁴ If his sons become many, it is for a sword; And his descendants themselves will not have enough food.^*1

¹⁵ His own survivors will be buried during a deadly plague,^*1 And their own widows will not weep.

¹⁶ If he should pile up silver like dust itself, And he should prepare attire just as if clay,

¹⁷ He would prepare, but the righteous would be the one to clothe himself, And in the silver the innocent would be the one to have a share.

¹⁸ He has built his house like a mere moth, And like a booth that a watchman has made.

¹⁹ Rich he will lie down, but nothing will be gathered;^*1 His eyes he has opened, but there will be nothing.

²⁰ Like waters^*1 sudden terrors will overtake him; At night a storm wind will certainly steal him away.

²¹ An east wind will carry him off and he will go away, And it will whirl him away from his place.

²² And it will hurl itself at him and have no compassion; From its power he will without fail try to run away.

²³ One will clap his hands at him And will whistle at him from his place.^*1