[1] Job's final defense: [2] "I vow by the living God, who has taken away my rights, even the Almighty God who has embittered my soul, [3] that as long as I live, while I have breath from God, [4] my lips shall speak no evil, my tongue shall speak no lies. [5] I will never, never agree that you are right; until I die I will vow my innocence. [6] I am not a sinner-I repeat it again and again. My conscience is clear for as long as I live. [7] Those who declare otherwise are my wicked enemies. They are evil men. [8] "But what hope has the godless when God cuts him off and takes away his life? [9] Will God listen to his cry when trouble comes upon him? [10] For he does not delight himself in the Almighty or pay any attention to God except in times of crisis. [11] "I will teach you about God- [12] but really, I don't need to, for you yourselves know as much about him as I do; yet you are saying all these useless things to me. [13] "This is the fate awaiting the wicked from the hand of the Almighty: [14] If he has a multitude of children, it is so that they will die in war or starve to death. [15] Those who survive shall be brought down to the grave by disease and plague, with no one to mourn them, not even their wives. [16] "The evil man may accumulate money like dust, with closets jammed full of clothing- [17] yes, he may order them made by his tailor, but the innocent shall wear that clothing and shall divide his silver among them. [18] Every house built by the wicked is as fragile as a spider web, as full of cracks as a leafy booth! [19] "He goes to bed rich but wakes up to find that all his wealth is gone. [20] Terror overwhelms him, and he is blown away in the storms of the night. [21] The east wind carries him away, and he is gone. It sweeps him into eternity. [22] For God shall hurl at him unsparingly. He longs to flee from God. [23] Everyone will cheer at his death and boo him into eternity.
