Job 27  Common English Bible

² As God lives, who rejected my legal claim,
        the Almighty, who made me bitter,
³     as long as breath is in me
        and God’s breath is in my nostrils—
⁴     my lips will utter no wickedness;
        my tongue will mumble no deceit.
⁵ I will not agree that you are right.
    Until my dying day, I won’t give up my integrity.
⁶ I will insist on my innocence, never surrendering it;
    my conscience will never blame me for what I have done.^[a]

⁷ Let my enemy be like the wicked,
    my opposition like the vicious.
⁸ For what hope has the godless when God cuts them off,
    when he takes them away.
⁹ Will God hear their cries
        when distress comes to them;
¹⁰     will they delight in the Almighty,
        call God at any time?

¹¹ I will teach you God’s power,
    not hide what pertains to the Almighty.
¹² Look, those of you who recognize this—
    why then this empty talk?
¹³ This is the wicked’s portion with God,
    the inheritance that the ruthless receive from the Almighty.
¹⁴ If their children increase, they belong to the sword;
    their offspring won’t have enough bread.
¹⁵ Their survivors will be buried with the dead;
    their widows won’t weep.
¹⁶ If they store up silver like dust,
    amass clothing like clay,
¹⁷     they may amass, but the righteous will wear it;
            the innocent will divide the silver.
¹⁸ They built their houses like nests,
    like a hut made by a watchman.
¹⁹ They lie down rich, but no longer;
    open their eyes, but it’s missing.
²⁰ Terrors overtake them like waters;
        a tempest snatches them by night;
²¹     an east wind lifts them, and they are gone,
        removes them from their places,
²²     throws itself on them without mercy;
        they flee desperately from its force.
²³ It claps its hands over them,
    hisses at them from their place.