Job 27

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 And Job continued his solemn discourse. He said:	1 Job also added to this, using figures of speech, and he said:
2 I swear by the living God who denies me justice, by Shaddai who has fil ed me with bitterness,	2 As God lives, who has taken away my judgment, and the Almighty, who has led my soul to bitterness,
3 that as long as a shred of life is left in me, and the breath of God breathes in my nostrils,	3 as long as my breath remains in me and the breath of God remains in my nostrils,
4 my lips wil never speak evil nor my tongue utter any lie.	4 my lips will not speak iniquity, nor will my tongue devise lies.
5 Far from admitting you to be in the right, I shal maintain my integrity to my dying day.	5 Far be it from me that I should judge you to be right, for, until I expire, I will not withdraw from my innocence.
6 I take my stand on my uprightness, I shal not stir: in my heart I need not be ashamed of my days.	6 I will not forsake my justification, which I have just begun to grasp, for my heart does not find blame for me in my whole life.
7 Let my enemy meet the fate of the wicked, my adversary, the lot of the evil-doer!	7 Let the impious be as my enemy, and the sinful, as my adversary.
8 For what hope does the godless have when he prays and raises his soul to God?	8 For what hope is there for the hypocrite, if he greedily plunders and God does not free his soul?
9 Is God likely to hear his cries when disaster descends on him?	9 Will God pay attention to his cry, when anguish overcomes him?
10 Did he make Shaddai al his delight, calling on him at every turn?	10 Or will he take delight in the Almighty and call upon God at all times?
11 But I am showing you the way that God works, making no secret of Shaddai's designs.	11 I will teach you through the hand of God, what the Almighty holds, and I will not conceal it.
12 And if you had al understood them for yourselves, you would not have wasted your breath in emptywords.	12 Behold, you know all this, and so why do you speak vain things without a reason?
13 This is the fate that God assigns to the wicked, the inheritance that the violent receive from Shaddai.	13 This is the portion of the impious man with God, and the inheritance of the violent, which they will receive from the Almighty.
14 Though he have many children, it is but for the sword; his descendants will never have enough to eat.	14 If his sons should happen to increase, they will be for the sword, and his grandsons will not be satisfied with bread.
15 Plague will bury those he leaves behind him, and their widows wil have no chance to mourn them.	15 Whatever will remain of him will be buried in the ruins, and his widows will not weep.
16 Though he amass silver like dust and gather fine clothes like clay,	16 If he will amass silver as if it were dirt and fabricate garments as if they were clay,
17 let him gather!-some good man wil wear them, while his silver is shared among the upright.	17 then yes, he will gather, but the just will be clothed with it and the innocent will divide the silver.
18 All he has built himself is a spider's web, made himself a watchman's shack.	18 He has built his house like a moth, and he has made a makeshift shelter like a sentry.
19 He goes to bed rich, but never again: he wakes to find it has al gone. As drought and heat makesnow disappear, so does Sheol anyone who has sinned.	19 When he falls asleep, the rich man will leave him with nothing; he will open his eyes and find nothing.
20 Terror assails him in broad daylight, and at night a whirlwind sweeps him off. The womb that shapedhim forgets him and his name is recal ed no longer. Thus wickedness is blasted as a tree is struck.	20 Destitution will surround him like water; a storm will overwhelm him in the night.
21 An east wind picks him up and drags him away, snatching him up from his homestead. He used to il -treat the childless woman and show no kindness to the widow.	21 A burning wind will pick him up and carry him away, and, like a whirlwind, it will rush him from his place.
22 Pitilessly he is turned into a target, and forced to flee from the hands that menace him. But he wholays mighty hold on tyrants rises up to take away a life that seemed secure.	22 And it will hurl over him and will not spare him; fleeing from its power, he will go into exile.
23 His downfall is greeted with applause, he is hissed wherever he goes. He is no more than a strawfloating on the water, his estate is accursed throughout the land, nobody goes near his vineyard. He let him buildhis hopes on false security, but kept his eyes on every step he took.	23 He will clasp his hands over himself, and he will hiss at himself, while considering his situation.
24 He had his time of glory, now he vanishes, wilting like the saltwort once it is picked, and withering likean ear of corn.