Dual Panel1Then Job resumed his discourse:
2I swear by the living God, who has denied me justice, by the Almighty, who has filled me with bitterness,
3that so long as there is any life left in me and the breath of God is in my nostrils,
4no untrue word will pass my lips, nor will my tongue utter any falsehood.
5Far be it from me to concede that you are right! Till I cease to be, I shall not abandon my claim of innocence.
6I maintain and shall never give up the rightness of my cause; so long as I live, I shall not change.
7Let my enemy meet the fate of the wicked, and my antagonist the doom of the wrongdoer!
8What hope has a godless man, when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
9Will God listen to his cry when trouble overtakes him?
10Will he trust himself to the Almighty? Will he call upon God at all times?
11I shall teach you what is in God's power, and not conceal the purpose of the Almighty.
12If all of you have seen these things, why then do you talk such empty nonsense?
13Such is God's reward for the wicked man, the Almighty's portion for him who is ruthless.
14Though his sons be many, they will fall by the sword, and his offspring will never have enough to eat;
15the survivors will be brought to the grave by plague, and no widows will weep for them.
16He may heap up silver like dirt and get himself stacks of clothes;
17he may get them, but the righteous will wear them, and his silver will be shared among the innocent.
18The house he builds is flimsy as a bird's nest or a shelter put up by a watchman.
19He may lie down rich one day, but never again; he opens his eyes, to find his wealth is gone.
20Disaster overtakes him like a flood, and a storm snatches him away in the night;
21an east wind lifts him up and he is gone; it sweeps him far from his home;
22it hurls itself at him without mercy, and he is battered and buffeted by its force;
23it snaps its fingers at him and whistles over him wherever he may be.