27:1 And Job continued his discourse:

27:2 "As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice, the Almighty, who has made me taste bitterness of soul,

27:3 as long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my nostrils,

27:4 my lips will not speak wickedness, and my tongue will utter no deceit.

27:5 I will never admit you are in the right; till I die, I will not deny my integrity.

27:6 I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it; my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.

27:7 "May my enemies be like the wicked, my adversaries like the unjust!

27:8 For what hope has the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?

27:9 Does God listen to his cry when distress comes upon him?

27:10 Will he find delight in the Almighty? Will he call upon God at all times?

27:11 "I will teach you about the power of God; the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal.

27:12 You have all seen this yourselves. Why then this meaningless talk?

27:13 "Here is the fate God allots to the wicked, the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:

27:14 However many his children, their fate is the sword; his offspring will never have enough to eat.

27:15 The plague will bury those who survive him, and their widows will not weep for them.

27:16 Though he heaps up silver like dust and clothes like piles of clay,

27:17 what he lays up the righteous will wear, and the innocent will divide his silver.

27:18 The house he builds is like a moth's cocoon, like a hut made by a watchman.

27:19 He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more; when he opens his eyes, all is gone.

27:20 Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest snatches him away in the night.

27:21 The east wind carries him off, and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place.

27:22 It hurls itself against him without mercy as he flees headlong from its power.

27:23 It claps its hands in derision and hisses him out of his place.