Job Maintains His Integrity

² “As God lives, who has taken away my justice,
And the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,

³ As long as my breath is in me,
And the breath of God in my nostrils,

⁴ My lips will not speak wickedness,
Nor my tongue utter deceit.

⁵ Far be it from me
That I should say you are right;
Till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.

⁶ My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go;
My heart shall not reproach me as long as I live.

⁷ “May my enemy be like the wicked,
And he who rises up against me like the unrighteous.

⁸ For what is the hope of the hypocrite,
Though he may gain much,
If God takes away his life?

⁹ Will God hear his cry
When trouble comes upon him?

¹⁰ Will he delight himself in the Almighty?
Will he always call on God?

¹¹ “I will teach you about the hand of God;
What is with the Almighty I will not conceal.

¹² Surely all of you have seen it;
Why then do you behave with complete nonsense?

¹³ “This is the portion of a wicked man with God,
And the heritage of oppressors, received from the Almighty:

¹⁴ If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword;
And his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.

¹⁵ Those who survive him shall be buried in death,
And their^[a] widows shall not weep,

¹⁶ Though he heaps up silver like dust,
And piles up clothing like clay—

¹⁷ He may pile it up, but the just will wear it,
And the innocent will divide the silver.

¹⁸ He builds his house like a moth,^[b]
Like a booth which a watchman makes.

¹⁹ The rich man will lie down,
But not be gathered up;^[c]
He opens his eyes,
And he is no more.

²⁰ Terrors overtake him like a flood;
A tempest steals him away in the night.

²¹ The east wind carries him away, and he is gone;
It sweeps him out of his place.

²² It hurls against him and does not spare;
He flees desperately from its power.

²³ Men shall clap their hands at him,
And shall hiss him out of his place.