1Job continued his discourse:
2As surely as God lives, who denies my right,
the Almighty, who has made me bitter,
3as long as I have life within me
and God’s breath in my nostrils,
4my lips will not speak falsehood
nor my tongue utter deceit.
5Never will I admit you are right,
nor deny my integrity till I die.
6Never will I let go of my righteousness;
my conscience is not put to shame.
7Let my enemy be as the wicked
and my adversary as the unrighteous.
8For what hope has the godless
when God cuts him off,
when God takes away his life?
9God will not listen to his call
when he is beset by trouble.
10For he did not delight in the Almighty
or call upon him constantly.
11See, I tell you the deeds of God
and do not conceal the ways of the Almighty.
12You have witnessed this yourselves.
Why then these empty words?
Third discourse of Nahama
13This is a wicked man’s portion from God,
the heritage of an oppressor
which he receives from the Almighty.
14Though his children be many,
the sword is their destiny.
His offspring will go hungry.
15The plague will bury those who survive,
and their widows will not mourn for them.
16He may heap up silver like dust
and pile up clothes like clay,
17but what he stores, the just will wear,
and the innocent divide his silver.
18He builds his house like a cobweb,
or like the hut a watchman makes.
19Once more he lies down rich
and wakes to see his wealth all gone.
20Terrors rush upon him by day;
at night a whirlwind carries him away.
21The east wind lifts him up, and he disappears
as it sweeps him out of his place.
22People strike at him without mercy
as he flees headlong from their hands.
23They clap their hands in mockery
and hiss at him from where they are.
