Job, 27

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

1. Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,

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

2. [As] God liveth, [who] hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, [who] hath vexed my soul;

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

3. All the while 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 shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.

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

5. God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine 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. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach [me] so long as I live.

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

7. Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me 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 hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?

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

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

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

10. Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?

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

11. I will teach you by the hand of God: [that] which [is] with the Almighty will I 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 ye yourselves have seen [it]; why then are ye thus 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 of oppressors, [which] they shall receive of 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 be multiplied, [it is] for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.

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

15. Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.

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

16. Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;

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

17. He may prepare [it], but the just shall put [it] on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.

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

18. He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth [that] the keeper maketh.

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. The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he [is] not.

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 take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.

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 carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth 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. For [God] shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.

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

23. [Men] shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his 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.