No Place to Hide

27 1-6 Having waited for Zophar, Job now resumed his defense:

“God-Alive! He’s denied me justice!
    God Almighty! He’s ruined my life!
But for as long as I draw breath,
    and for as long as God breathes life into me,
I refuse to say one word that isn’t true.
    I refuse to confess to any charge that’s false.
There is no way I’ll ever agree to your accusations.
    I’ll not deny my integrity even if it costs me my life.
I’m holding fast to my integrity and not loosening my grip—
    and, believe me, I’ll never regret it.

7-10 “Let my enemy be exposed as wicked!
    Let my adversary be proven guilty!
What hope do people without God have when life is cut short?
    when God puts an end to life?
Do you think God will listen to their cry for help
    when disaster hits?
What interest have they ever shown in the Almighty?
    Have they ever been known to pray before?

11-12 “I’ve given you a clear account of God in action,
    suppressed nothing regarding God Almighty.
The evidence is right before you. You can all see it for yourselves,
    so why do you keep talking nonsense?

13-23 “I’ll quote your own words back to you:

“‘This is how God treats the wicked,
    this is what evil people can expect from God Almighty:
Their children—all of them—will die violent deaths;
    they’ll never have enough bread to put on the table.
They’ll be wiped out by the plague,
    and none of the widows will shed a tear when they’re gone.
Even if they make a lot of money
    and are resplendent in the latest fashions,
It’s the good who will end up wearing the clothes
    and the decent who will divide up the money.
They build elaborate houses
    that won’t survive a single winter.
They go to bed wealthy
    and wake up poor.
Terrors pour in on them like flash floods—
    a tornado snatches them away in the middle of the night,
A cyclone sweeps them up—gone!
    Not a trace of them left, not even a footprint.
Catastrophes relentlessly pursue them;
    they run this way and that, but there’s no place to hide—
Pummeled by the weather,
    blown to smithereens by the storm.’”

Noveno discurso de Job

27 Job, retomando la palabra, dijo:

«Vive Dios, el Todopoderoso,
    quien se niega a hacerme justicia,
    quien me ha amargado el ánimo,
que mientras haya vida en mí
    y aliento divino en mi nariz,
mis labios no pronunciarán maldad alguna
    ni mi lengua proferirá mentiras.
Jamás podré admitir que ustedes tengan la razón;
    mientras viva, insistiré en mi integridad.
Insistiré en mi inocencia; no cederé.
    Mientras viva, no me remorderá la conciencia.

»¡Que terminen mis enemigos como los malvados
    y mis adversarios como los injustos!
¿Qué esperanza tienen los impíos
    cuando son eliminados,
    cuando Dios les quita la vida?
¿Escucha Dios su clamor
    cuando les sobreviene la angustia?
10 ¿Acaso se deleitan en el Todopoderoso,
    o claman a Dios en todo tiempo?

11 »¡Yo les voy a mostrar algo del poder de Dios!
    ¡No les voy a ocultar los planes del Todopoderoso!
12 Si ustedes mismos han visto todo esto,
    ¿a qué viene tanta palabrería?

13 »Este es el destino que Dios tiene reservado para los malvados;
    esta es la herencia que los tiranos recibirán del Todopoderoso:
14 No importa cuántos hijos tengan,
    la espada los aguarda;
    jamás sus descendientes comerán hasta saciarse.
15 La plaga sepultará a quienes les sobrevivan;
    sus viudas no llorarán por ellos.
16 Y aunque amontonen plata como polvo,
    y apilen vestidos como arcilla,
17 será el justo quien se ponga esos vestidos,
    y el inocente quien reparta esa plata.
18 Las casas que construyen parecen larvas de polilla,
    parecen cobertizo de vigilancia.
19 Se acuestan siendo ricos, pero por última vez;
    cuando abren los ojos, sus riquezas se han esfumado.
20 Les sobreviene un diluvio de terrores;
    la tempestad los arrebata por la noche.
21 El viento del este se los lleva y desaparecen;
    los arranca de su lugar.
22 Se lanza contra ellos sin clemencia,
    mientras ellos tratan de huir de su poder.
23 Agita las manos y aplaude burlón;
    entre silbidos, los arranca de su lugar».

Job Maintains His Integrity

27 Moreover Job continued his discourse, and said:

As God lives, (A)who has taken away my justice,
And the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,
As long as my breath is in me,
And the breath of God in my nostrils,
My lips will not speak wickedness,
Nor my tongue utter deceit.
Far be it from me
That I should say you are right;
Till I die (B)I will not put away my integrity from me.
My righteousness I (C)hold fast, and will not let it go;
(D)My heart shall not [a]reproach me as long as I live.

“May my enemy be like the wicked,
And he who rises up against me like the unrighteous.
(E)For what is the hope of the hypocrite,
Though he may gain much,
If God takes away his life?
(F)Will God hear his cry
When trouble comes upon him?
10 (G)Will he delight himself in the Almighty?
Will he always call on God?

11 “I will teach you [b]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(H) is the portion of a wicked man with God,
And the heritage of oppressors, received from the Almighty:
14 (I)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 (J)their[c] 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 (K)the just will wear it,
And the innocent will divide the silver.
18 He builds his house like a [d]moth,
(L)Like a [e]booth which a watchman makes.
19 The rich man will lie down,
[f]But not be gathered up;
He opens his eyes,
And he is (M)no more.
20 (N)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 (O)spare;
He flees desperately from its [g]power.
23 Men shall clap their hands at him,
And shall hiss him out of his place.

Footnotes

  1. Job 27:6 reprove
  2. Job 27:11 Or by
  3. Job 27:15 Lit. his
  4. Job 27:18 So with MT, Vg.; LXX, Syr. spider (cf. 8:14); Tg. decay
  5. Job 27:18 Temporary shelter
  6. Job 27:19 So with MT, Tg.; LXX, Syr. But shall not add (i.e., do it again); Vg. But take away nothing
  7. Job 27:22 Lit. hand