New King James Version

New Living Translation

Job Maintains His Integrity

Moreover Job continued his discourse, and said:

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Job’s Final Speech

Job continued speaking:

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“As God lives, who has taken away my justice,
And the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,

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“I vow by the living God, who has taken away my rights,
by the Almighty who has embittered my soul —

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As long as my breath is in me,
And the breath of God in my nostrils,

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As long as I live,
while I have breath from God,

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My lips will not speak wickedness,
Nor my tongue utter deceit.

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my lips will speak no evil,
and my tongue will speak no lies.

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Far be it from me
That I should say you are right;
Till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.

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I will never concede that you are right;
I will defend my integrity until I die.

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My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go;
My heart shall not [a]reproach me as long as I live.

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I will maintain my innocence without wavering.
My conscience is clear for as long as I live.

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“May my enemy be like the wicked,
And he who rises up against me like the unrighteous.

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“May my enemy be punished like the wicked,
my adversary like those who do evil.

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For what is the hope of the hypocrite,
Though he may gain much,
If God takes away his life?

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For what hope do the godless have when God cuts them off
and takes away their life?

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Will God hear his cry
When trouble comes upon him?

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Will God listen to their cry
when trouble comes upon them?

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Will he delight himself in the Almighty?
Will he always call on God?

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Can they take delight in the Almighty?
Can they call to God at any time?

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“I will teach you [b]about the hand of God;
What is with the Almighty I will not conceal.

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I will teach you about God’s power.
I will not conceal anything concerning the Almighty.

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Surely all of you have seen it;
Why then do you behave with complete nonsense?

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But you have seen all this,
yet you say all these useless things to me.

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“This is the portion of a wicked man with God,
And the heritage of oppressors, received from the Almighty:

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“This is what the wicked will receive from God;
this is their inheritance from the Almighty.

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If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword;
And his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.

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They may have many children,
but the children will die in war or starve to death.

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Those who survive him shall be buried in death,
And their[c] widows shall not weep,

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Those who survive will die of a plague,
and not even their widows will mourn them.

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Though he heaps up silver like dust,
And piles up clothing like clay —

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“Evil people may have piles of money
and may store away mounds of clothing.

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He may pile it up, but the just will wear it,
And the innocent will divide the silver.

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But the righteous will wear that clothing,
and the innocent will divide that money.

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He builds his house like a [d]moth,
Like a [e]booth which a watchman makes.

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The wicked build houses as fragile as a spider’s web,a
as flimsy as a shelter made of branches.

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The rich man will lie down,
[f]But not be gathered up;
He opens his eyes,
And he is no more.

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The wicked go to bed rich
but wake to find that all their wealth is gone.

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Terrors overtake him like a flood;
A tempest steals him away in the night.

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Terror overwhelms them like a flood,
and they are blown away in the storms of the night.

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The east wind carries him away, and he is gone;
It sweeps him out of his place.

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The east wind carries them away, and they are gone.
It sweeps them away.

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It hurls against him and does not spare;
He flees desperately from its [g]power.

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It whirls down on them without mercy.
They struggle to flee from its power.

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Men shall clap their hands at him,
And shall hiss him out of his place.

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But everyone jeers at them
and mocks them.

Parallel

New King James Version

New Living Translation

Job 27

Job 27