Job, 27

1. And Job continued his solemn discourse. He said:

1. And Job again took up his discourse, and said:

2. I swear by the living God who denies me justice, by Shaddai who has filled me with bitterness,

2. "As God lives, who has taken away my right, and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter;

3. that as long as a shred of life is left in me, and the breath of God breathes in my nostrils,

3. as long as my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;

4. my lips will never speak evil nor my tongue utter any lie.

4. my lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit.

5. Far from admitting you to be in the right, I shall maintain my integrity to my dying day.

5. Far be it from me to say that you are right; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.

6. I take my stand on my uprightness, I shall not stir: in my heart I need not be ashamed of my days.

6. I hold fast my righteousness, and will not let it go; my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.

7. Let my enemy meet the fate of the wicked, my adversary, the lot of the evil-doer!

7. "Let my enemy be as the wicked, and let him that rises up against me be as the unrighteous.

8. For what hope does the godless have when he prays and raises his soul to God?

8. For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off, when God takes away his life?

9. Is God likely to hear his cries when disaster descends on him?

9. Will God hear his cry, when trouble comes upon him?

10. Did he make Shaddai all his delight, calling on him at every turn?

10. Will he take delight in the Almighty? Will he call upon God at all times?

11. But I am showing you the way that God works, making no secret of Shaddai's designs.

11. I will teach you concerning the hand of God; what is with the Almighty I will not conceal.

12. And if you had all understood them for yourselves, you would not have wasted your breath in empty words.

12. Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves; why then have you become altogether vain?

13. This is the fate that God assigns to the wicked, the inheritance that the violent receive from Shaddai.

13. "This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage which oppressors receive from the Almighty:

14. Though he have many children, it is but for the sword; his descendants will never have enough to eat.

14. If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword; and his offspring have not enough to eat.

15. Plague will bury those he leaves behind him, and their widows will have no chance to mourn them.

15. Those who survive him the pestilence buries, and their widows make no lamentation.

16. Though he amass silver like dust and gather fine clothes like clay,

16. Though he heap up silver like dust, and pile up clothing like clay;

17. let him gather!-some good man will wear them, while his silver is shared among the upright.

17. he may pile it up, but the just will wear it, and the innocent will divide the silver.

18. All he has built himself is a spider's web, made himself a watchman's shack.

18. The house which he builds is like a spider's web, like a booth which a watchman makes.

19. He goes to bed rich, but never again: he wakes to find it has all gone. As drought and heat make snow disappear, so does Sheol anyone who has sinned.

19. He goes to bed rich, but will do so no more; he opens his eyes, and his wealth is gone.

20. Terror assails him in broad daylight, and at night a whirlwind sweeps him off. The womb that shaped him forgets him and his name is recalled no longer. Thus wickedness is blasted as a tree is struck.

20. Terrors overtake him like a flood; in the night a whirlwind carries him off.

21. An east wind picks him up and drags him away, snatching him up from his homestead. He used to ill-treat the childless woman and show no kindness to the widow.

21. The east wind lifts him up and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place.

22. Pitilessly he is turned into a target, and forced to flee from the hands that menace him. But he who lays mighty hold on tyrants rises up to take away a life that seemed secure.

22. It hurls at him without pity; he flees from its power in headlong flight.

23. His downfall is greeted with applause, he is hissed wherever he goes.

23. It claps its hands at him, and hisses at him from its place.

24. He had his time of glory, now he vanishes, wilting like the saltwort once it is picked, and withering like an ear of corn.

24.