| 1 | Job again took up his discourse and said: |
| 2 | “As God lives, who has taken away my right, and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter, |
| 3 | as long as my breath is in me and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, |
| 4 | my lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit. |
| 5 | Far be it from me to say that you are right; until I die I will not put away my integrity from me. |
| 6 | I hold fast my righteousness, and will not let it go; my heart does not reproach me for any of my days. |
| 7 | “May my enemy be like the wicked, and may my opponent be like the unrighteous. |
| 8 | For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts them off, when God takes away their lives? |
| 9 | Will God hear their cry when trouble comes upon them? |
| 10 | Will they take delight in the Almighty? Will they call upon God at all times? |
| 11 | I will teach you concerning the hand of God; that which is with the Almighty I will not conceal. |
| 12 | All of you have seen it yourselves; why then have you become altogether vain? |
| 13 | “This is the portion of the wicked with God, and the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty: |
| 14 | If their children are multiplied, it is for the sword; and their offspring have not enough to eat. |
| 15 | Those who survive them the pestilence buries, and their widows make no lamentation. |
| 16 | Though they heap up silver like dust, and pile up clothing like clay — |
| 17 | they may pile it up, but the just will wear it, and the innocent will divide the silver. |
| 18 | They build their houses like nests, like booths made by sentinels of the vineyard. |
| 19 | They go to bed with wealth, but will do so no more; they open their eyes, and it is gone. |
| 20 | Terrors overtake them like a flood; in the night a whirlwind carries them off. |
| 21 | The east wind lifts them up and they are gone; it sweeps them out of their place. |
| 22 | It hurls at them without pity; they flee from its power in headlong flight. |
| 23 | It claps its hands at them, and hisses at them from its place. |