Job 27 — The Holy Bible

Job Will Hold Fast to Righteousness

Job 27, verse 1. Moreover Job continued his speech and said:

“As the Lord lives who thus judges me,

And the Almighty who embittered my soul,

Surely as long as my breath is in me

And the divine breath is in my nostrils,

My lips will not speak lawless things,

Nor shall my soul practice wrongdoings.

May it not be I who set forth the opinion that you are righteous.

Until the day I die, I will not put away my integrity from me.

I hold fast to my righteousness and am not letting it go;

For I am not conscious in myself of having done anything wrong.

“Surely not, but rather may my enemies

Be as the destruction of the ungodly,

And those who rise up against me

As the destruction of the lawless.

For what hope is there for an ungodly man that he holds to it?

Will he trust in the Lord and be saved?

Will the Lord hear his prayer

When distress comes upon him?

Has he any confidence before Him,

Or will the Lord hear him when he calls on Him?

“But indeed, I will tell you what is the hand of the Lord.

I will not lie concerning what is with the Almighty.

Behold therefore, all of you know

You are adding vanity to vanity.

“This is the portion from the Lord for the ungodly man,

And the possession of oppressors

Shall come upon them from the Almighty.

If their children be many, they will be for slaughter;

And if they reach manhood, they will beg.

Those who survive him shall be buried in death,

And no one will have pity on their widows.

Though he gathers silver like dust

And shall prepare gold like clay,

The righteous will acquire these things,

And the true ones will possess his wealth.

His house goes away like a moth

And like a spider's web.

The rich man will lie down and not continue;

He opens his eyes, but is no more.

Pains happen to him like a flood,

And thick darkness takes him away in the night.

A burning wind will take him up, and he will be gone;

And it will scatter him from his place.

It will blow against him and not spare;

He will try in vain to flee from its force.

It will strike him with its power,

And whistle him from his place.