Job 27
Job: I’m innocent
Job: I tell the truth
1Job continued talking:2I'm going to tell you something
And it’s the truth as sure as God lives,
God who took away my right to due process,
Almighty God who turned me into a bitter soul.
3As long as I have breath in me
And as long as God lets me breathe,
4I’ll refuse to tell a lie.
I won't let my tongue do that.
5It's above my pay grade
To say your criticisms of me are right.
But until the day I die
I am going to maintain that I’m innocent.
6I'm holding on to my dignity
And I'll be darned if I'm going to let go.
I know in my heart that I'm innocent
For my heart refuses to condemn me.
Job: I hope my enemies end badly
7I hope my enemies end up like the wicked.I hope people against me are like those against God.
8For what hope do they have
When God comes to collect,
They’ll pay with their lives.
9When they get into trouble,
Will God answer their prayer? [1]
10Will they enjoy serving God?
Will they stay in close touch with him?
Job: I can school you
11I can teach you a thing or two about God's power,And I’ll give you the full course.
I won’t hold back a thing about the Almighty.
12You have seen his power for yourselves.
So why do you waste your talk
On empty words and worthless babble. [2]
13I'll tell you what God is going to give the wicked.
It’s the same thing the Almighty will give oppressors.
14They might have a lot of children,
But the children are going to get killed.
Until they do, they’ll go hungry.
15Those kids who survive will die in a plague.
Widows of the wicked won’t grieve them.
The rest of us will take from the rich
16These rich people accumulate silver like dust.And they hoard clothing like it's cheap as clay.
17They collect it, but good people will wear it.
And they’ll split the silver. Cha-ching.
18Rich will build houses as insecure as a bird's nest,
As temporary is a guard’s shack to protect from the weather.
19They’ll go to bed rich
And wake up poor.
20Terror will hit them like a flash flood in the face.
The night, they’ll find, has swept them away.
21Hot desert wind blows in from the east
And whirls them away, to long gone.
22It strikes them hard and without mercy.
They’ll try to find a path to freedom.
23But it applauds their efforts in ridicule,
And boos them as it carries them away.
Footnotes
127:9
Sure. But not the way they’d like. That seems to be Job’s presumption.
227:12
Job seems to be condemning his three insensitive visitors for their harsh criticisms and their theological declarations that have nothing to do with prophetic insight, life-based wisdom, or healthy counseling for a bereaved man. The men spend their time tearing Job to pieces and condemning him without knowing him well enough to know what they’re talking about. In some churches, hopefully rare, that’s called preaching.
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