The Message Bible MSG
New Living Translation NLT
1 Having waited for Zophar, Job now resumed his defense:
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Job continued speaking:
2 "God-Alive! He's denied me justice! God Almighty! He's ruined my life!
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“I vow by the living God, who has taken away my rights, by the Almighty who has embittered my soul—
3 But for as long as I draw breath, and for as long as God breathes life into me,
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As long as I live, while I have breath from God,
4 I refuse to say one word that isn't true. I refuse to confess to any charge that's false.
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my lips will speak no evil, and my tongue will speak no lies.
5 There is no way I'll ever agree to your accusations. I'll not deny my integrity even if it costs me my life.
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I will never concede that you are right; I will defend my integrity until I die.
6 I'm holding fast to my integrity and not loosening my grip - and, believe me, I'll never regret it.
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I will maintain my innocence without wavering. My conscience is clear for as long as I live.
7 "Let my enemy be exposed as wicked! Let my adversary be proven guilty!
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“May my enemy be punished like the wicked, my adversary like those who do evil.
8 What hope do people without God have when life is cut short? when God puts an end to life?
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For what hope do the godless have when God cuts them off and takes away their life?
9 Do you think God will listen to their cry for help when disaster hits?
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Will God listen to their cry when trouble comes upon them?
10 What interest have they ever shown in the Almighty? Have they ever been known to pray before?
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Can they take delight in the Almighty? Can they call to God at any time?
11 "I've given you a clear account of God in action, suppressed nothing regarding God Almighty.
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I will teach you about God’s power. I will not conceal anything concerning the Almighty.
12 The evidence is right before you. You can all see it for yourselves, so why do you keep talking nonsense?
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But you have seen all this, yet you say all these useless things to me.
13 "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:
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“This is what the wicked will receive from God; this is their inheritance from the Almighty.
14 Their children - all of them - will die violent deaths; they'll never have enough bread to put on the table.
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They may have many children, but the children will die in war or starve to death.
15 They'll be wiped out by the plague, and none of the widows will shed a tear when they're gone.
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Those who survive will die of a plague, and not even their widows will mourn them.
16 Even if they make a lot of money and are resplendent in the latest fashions,
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“Evil people may have piles of money and may store away mounds of clothing.
17 It's the good who will end up wearing the clothes and the decent who will divide up the money.
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But the righteous will wear that clothing, and the innocent will divide that money.
18 They build elaborate houses that won't survive a single winter.
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The wicked build houses as fragile as a spider’s web, as flimsy as a shelter made of branches.
19 They go to bed wealthy and wake up poor.
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The wicked go to bed rich but wake to find that all their wealth is gone.
20 Terrors pour in on them like flash floods - a tornado snatches them away in the middle of the night,
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Terror overwhelms them like a flood, and they are blown away in the storms of the night.
21 A cyclone sweeps them up - gone! Not a trace of them left, not even a footprint.
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The east wind carries them away, and they are gone. It sweeps them away.
22 Catastrophes relentlessly pursue them; they run this way and that, but there's no place to hide -
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It whirls down on them without mercy. They struggle to flee from its power.
23 Pummeled by the weather, blown to kingdom come by the storm.'
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But everyone jeers at them and mocks them.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.