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Job Affirms His Righteousness

¹ Job continued his ^(C1)discourse and said,

² "As God lives, ^(C1)who has taken away my right and denied me justice,
And the Almighty, ^(C2)who has caused bitterness and grief for my soul,

³ As long as my life is within me,
And the ^(C1)breath of God is still in my nostrils,

⁴ My lips will not speak unjustly,
Nor will ^(C1)my tongue utter deceit.

⁵ "Far be it from me that I should admit you are right in your accusations against me;
Until I die, ^(C1)I will not remove my integrity from me.

⁶ "I ^(C1)hold fast my uprightness and my right standing with God and I will not let them go;
My heart does not reproach me for any of my days.

The State of the Godless

⁷ "May my enemy be as the wicked,
And he who rises up against me be as the unrighteous (unjust).

⁸ "For what is ^(C1)the hope of the godless, even though he has gained in this world,
When God takes ^(C2)his life?

⁹ "Will God ^(C1)hear his cry
When ^(C2)trouble and distress come upon him?

¹⁰ "Will he take ^(C1)delight in the Almighty?
Will he call on God at all times?

¹¹ "I will teach you regarding the hand (power) of God;
I will not conceal what is with the Almighty God's actual treatment of the wicked.

¹² "Behold, all of you have seen it;
Why then do you act vainly and foolishly cherishing worthless concepts?

¹³ "This which I am about to explain is ^(C1)the portion of a wicked man from God,
And the inheritance which ^(C2)tyrants and oppressors receive from the Almighty:

¹⁴ Though his children are many, they are destined ^(C1)for the sword;
And his ^(C2)descendants will not have sufficient bread.

¹⁵ "Those who survive him will be buried because of the plague,
And their ^(C1)widows will not be able to weep.

¹⁶ "Though he heaps up silver like dust
And piles up clothing like clay,

¹⁷ He may prepare it, ^(C1)but the just will wear it
And the innocent will divide the silver.

¹⁸ "He builds his ^(C1)house like a spider's web,
Like a (temporary) hut which a watchman makes.

¹⁹ "He lies down rich, but never will again;
He opens his eyes, and ^(C1)it is gone.

²⁰ "^(C1)Terrors overtake him like a suddenly rising flood;
A windstorm steals him away ^(C2)in the night.

²¹ "The east ^(C1)wind lifts him up, and he is gone;
It sweeps him ^(C2)out of his place.

²² "For it will hurl thunderbolts of God's wrath at him ^(C1)unsparingly and without compassion;
He ^(C2)flees in haste from its power.

²³ "People will clap their hands at him to mock and ridicule him
And ^(C1)hiss him out of his place.