Monday, January 26, 2004

Job's Final Speech: Job 27







Job 27

Job's Final Speech


1Job continued speaking:
2"I make this vow by the living God, who has taken away my rights, by the Almighty who has embittered my soul. 3As long as I live, while I have breath from God, 4my lips will speak no evil, and my tongue will speak no lies. 5I will never concede that you are right; until I die, I will defend my innocence. 6I will maintain my innocence without wavering. My conscience is clear for as long as I live.

7"May my enemy be punished like the wicked, my adversary like evil men. 8For what hope do the godless have when God cuts them off and takes away their life? 9Will God listen to their cry when trouble comes upon them? 10Can they take delight in the Almighty? Can they call to God at any time?

11"I will teach you about God's power. I will not conceal anything that concerns the Almighty. 12But I don't need to, for you yourselves have seen all this; yet you are saying all these useless things to me.

13"This is what the wicked will receive from God; this is their inheritance from the Almighty. 14If they have a multitude of children, their children will die in war or starve to death. 15Those who survive will be brought down to the grave by a plague, with no one to mourn them, not even their wives.

16"Evil people may have all the money in the world, and they may store away mounds of clothing. 17But the righteous will wear that clothing, and the innocent will divide all that money. 18The houses built by the wicked are as fragile as a spiderweb, as flimsy as a shelter made of branches.

19"The wicked go to bed rich but wake up to find that all their wealth is gone. 20Terror overwhelms them, and they are blown away in the storms of the night. 21The east wind carries them away, and they are gone. It sweeps them away. 22It whirls down on them without mercy. They struggle to flee from its power. 23But everyone jeers at them and mocks them.

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