Job persists in asserting his own innocence, and that hypocrites will be punished in the end.

¹ Job also added to this, using figures of speech, and he said:

² As God lives, who has taken away my judgment, and the Almighty, who has led my soul to bitterness,

³ as long as my breath remains in me and the breath of God remains in my nostrils,¹

1. 27:3The phrase ‘intuens locum eius’ could be more literally translated as ‘considering (beholding) his place.’ But the context makes it clear that he is considering his woeful situation, so the translation is less literal and more meaningful.(Conte)

⁴ my lips will not speak iniquity, nor will my tongue devise lies.

⁵ Far be it from me that I should judge you to be right, for, until I expire, I will not withdraw from my innocence.

⁶ I will not forsake my justification, which I have just begun to grasp, for my heart does not find blame for me in my whole life.

⁷ Let the impious be as my enemy, and the sinful, as my adversary.

⁸ For what hope is there for the hypocrite, if he greedily plunders and God does not free his soul?

⁹ Will God pay attention to his cry, when anguish overcomes him?

¹⁰ Or will he take delight in the Almighty and call upon God at all times?

¹¹ I will teach you through the hand of God, what the Almighty holds, and I will not conceal it.

¹² Behold, you know all this, and so why do you speak vain things without a reason?

¹³ This is the portion of the impious man with God, and the inheritance of the violent, which they will receive from the Almighty.

¹⁴ If his sons should happen to increase, they will be for the sword, and his grandsons will not be satisfied with bread.

¹⁵ Whatever will remain of him will be buried in the ruins, and his widows will not weep.

¹⁶ If he will amass silver as if it were dirt and fabricate garments as if they were clay,

¹⁷ then yes, he will gather, but the just will be clothed with it and the innocent will divide the silver.

¹⁸ He has built his house like a moth, and he has made a makeshift shelter like a sentry.

¹⁹ When he falls asleep, the rich man will leave him with nothing; he will open his eyes and find nothing.

²⁰ Destitution will surround him like water; a storm will overwhelm him in the night.

²¹ A burning wind will pick him up and carry him away, and, like a whirlwind, it will rush him from his place.

²² And it will hurl over him and will not spare him; fleeing from its power, he will go into exile.

²³ He will clasp his hands over himself, and he will hiss at himself, while considering his situation.