Job 27
EasyEnglish Bible
Job continues to speak
27 Job continued to speak. This is what he said:
2 ‘Almighty God has not been fair to me.
He has caused my life to be very sad.
As surely as he lives, I promise this:
3 As long as God's Spirit gives me life,
4 I will never speak any lies.
I will always be honest.
5 I will never agree that you, my three friends, are right.
Until the day of my death,
I will continue to say what I know is right.
6 I will never agree that I am guilty.
During all of my life,
my thoughts do not say that I am doing anything wrong.
7 I pray that God will punish my enemies
as he punishes all wicked people.
They do bad things to me,
so they deserve punishment.
8 When God chooses to remove wicked people,
they cannot hope for any good thing.
God will cause them to die.
9 When they are in trouble and they pray for help,
God will not listen to them.
10 People like that are not happy that Almighty God is their friend.
They do not like to pray to him all the time.
11 I will teach you about the power of Almighty God.
I will explain to you what he is thinking.
12 You yourselves have all seen what God has done.
So you should stop saying all these useless things!
13 I will tell you what Almighty God does to wicked people.
He punishes cruel people as they deserve.
14 Wicked people may have many children,
but they will die in war.
Their children will never have enough food to eat.
15 Illness will kill any children who continue to live.
Their widows will not weep when they are dead.
16 Wicked people may have lots of money.
They may have silver like heaps of sand.
They may have more clothes than they could ever wear.
17 But one day righteous people will wear those clothes.
Honest people will share the silver among themselves.
18 The houses that wicked people build are not strong.
They are as weak as a spider's web,[a]
or a shepherd's hut,
19 Their riches quickly disappear.
They are rich when they go to sleep,
but poor when they wake up.
20 Troubles come to them like a flood of water,
and they are very afraid.
A storm comes in the night to carry them away.
21 The east wind picks them up and takes then far away.[b]
It removes them from their homes.
22 It is a strong wind that hits wicked people
and it never stops.
It continues to beat them as they try to escape.
23 The cruel wind laughs at them
as they run away in fear.’
Job 27
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 27
Job’s Reply. 1 Job took up his theme again and said:
2 As God lives,[a] who takes away my right,(A)
the Almighty, who has made my life bitter,
3 So long as I still have life breath in me,
the breath of God in my nostrils,
4 My lips shall not speak falsehood,
nor my tongue utter deceit!
5 Far be it from me to account you right;
till I die I will not renounce my innocence.(B)
6 My justice I maintain and I will not relinquish it;
my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.
7 [b]Let my enemy be as the wicked
and my adversary as the unjust!
8 For what hope has the impious when he is cut off,
when God requires his life?
9 Will God then listen to his cry
when distress comes upon him,
10 If he delights in the Almighty
and calls upon God constantly?
11 I will teach you what is in God’s hand,
and the way of the Almighty I will not conceal.
12 Look, you yourselves have all seen it;
why do you spend yourselves in empty words!
13 This is the portion of the wicked with God,
the heritage oppressors receive from the Almighty:(C)
14 Though his children be many, the sword awaits them.
His descendants shall want for bread.
15 His survivors shall be buried in death;
their widows shall not weep.
16 Though he heap up silver like dust
and store away mounds of clothing,
17 What he has stored the righteous shall wear,
and the innocent shall divide the silver.
18 He builds his house as of cobwebs,
or like a booth put up by a watchman.
19 He lies down a rich man, one last time;
he opens his eyes—nothing is there.(D)
20 Terrors flood over him like water,
at night the tempest carries him off.
21 The east wind seizes him and he is gone;
it sweeps him from his place;
22 It hurls itself at him without pity,
as he tries to flee from its power.
23 It claps its hands at him,
and whistles at him from its place.
Footnotes
- 27:2–6 As God lives…far be it: Job affirms two oaths about his innocence by the very God whom he has accused of violating his right. Such is the paradoxical situation of a tortured person who cannot give the lie to his personal justice, but also refuses to renounce God. He dares God to be “just” as he, Job, understands this.
- 27:7–23 These verses are inconsistent with Job’s views elsewhere, and may be part of a missing speech of Zophar; cf. notes on 24:18–24 and 25:1. Or possibly they are an ironic description of the fate of the three friends.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.