Job 27:1-23

Job 27:1-23 NCV

And Job continued speaking: “As surely as God lives, who has taken away my rights, the Almighty, who has made me unhappy, as long as I am alive and God’s breath of life is in my nose, my lips will not speak evil, and my tongue will not tell a lie. I will never agree you are right; until I die, I will never stop saying I am innocent. I will insist that I am right; I will not back down. My conscience will never bother me. “Let my enemies be like evil people, my foes like those who are wrong. What hope do the wicked have when they die, when God takes their life away? God will not listen to their cries when trouble comes to them. They will not find joy in the Almighty, even though they call out to God all the time. “I will teach you about the power of God and will not hide the ways of the Almighty. You have all seen this yourselves. So why are we having all this talk that means nothing? “Here is what God has planned for evil people, and what the Almighty will give to cruel people: They may have many children, but the sword will kill them. Their children who are left will never have enough to eat. Then they will die of disease and be buried, and the widows will not even cry for them. The wicked may heap up silver like piles of dirt and have so many clothes they are like piles of clay. But good people will wear what evil people have gathered, and the innocent will divide up their silver. The houses the wicked build are like a spider’s web, like a hut that a guard builds. The wicked are rich when they go to bed, but they are rich for the last time; when they open their eyes, everything is gone. Fears come over them like a flood, and a storm snatches them away in the night. The east wind will carry them away, and then they are gone, because it sweeps them out of their place. The wind will hit them without mercy as they try to run away from its power. It will be as if the wind is clapping its hands; it will whistle at them as they run from their place.

Read Job 27