New Living Translation

New King James Version

Job’s Final Speech

Job continued speaking:

1

Job Maintains His Integrity

Moreover Job continued his discourse, and said:

2

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

2

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

3

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

3

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

4

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

4

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

5

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

5

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

6

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

6

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

7

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

7

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

8

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

8

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

9

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

9

Will God hear his cry
When trouble comes upon him?

10

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

10

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

11

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

11

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

12

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

12

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

13

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

13

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

14

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

14

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

15

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

15

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

16

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

16

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

17

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

17

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

18

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

18

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

19

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

19

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

20

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

20

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

21

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

21

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

22

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

22

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

23

But everyone jeers at them
and mocks them.

23

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

Parallel

New Living Translation

New King James Version

Job 27

Job 27