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I Hold Fast My Righteousness

¹ Then Job continued to lift up his ^(F1)(C1)discourse and said,

² "As God lives, ^(C1)who has removed my justice,
And the Almighty, ^(C2)who has embittered my soul,

³ For as long as breath is in me,
And the ^(C1)spirit from God is in my nostrils,

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

⁵ "Far be it from me that I should declare you right;
Till I breathe my last ^(C1)I will not remove my integrity from me.

⁶ "I ^(C1)hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go.
My heart does not reproach any of my days.

⁷ "May my enemy be as the wicked
And the one who rises against me as the unjust.

⁸ "For what is ^(C1)the hope of the godless ^(F1)when he is cut off,
When God requires ^(C2)his ^(F2)soul?

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

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

¹¹ "I will instruct you in the ^(F1)power of God;
What is with the Almighty I will not conceal.

¹² "Behold, all of you have seen it;
Why then do you speak with utter vanity?

¹³ "This is ^(C1)the portion of a wicked man from God,
And the inheritance which the ^(C2)ruthless receive from the Almighty.

¹⁴ "Though his sons are many, ^(F1)they are destined ^(C1)for the sword;
And his ^(C2)offspring will not be satisfied with bread.

¹⁵ "His survivors will be buried because of the plague,
And ^(F1)their ^(C1)widows will not be able to weep.

¹⁶ "Though he piles up silver like dust
And prepares garments as plentiful as the clay,

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

¹⁸ "He has built his ^(C1)house like the ^(F1)moth,
Or as a hut which the watchman has made.

¹⁹ "He lies down rich, but never ^(F1)again;
He opens his eyes, and ^(C1)it is no longer.

²⁰ "^(C1)Terrors overtake him like many waters;
A tempest steals him away ^(C2)in the night.

²¹ "The east ^(C1)wind carries him away, and he goes,
And it whirls him ^(C2)away from his place.

²² "For it will hurl at him ^(C1)without sparing;
He will surely try to ^(C2)flee from its ^(F1)power.

²³ "Men will clap their hands at him
And will ^(C1)hiss him from his place.