1 Job said:
2 I am desperate becauseGod All-Powerful refusesto do what is right.As surely as God lives,
3 and while he gives me breath,
4 I will tell only the truth.
5 Until the day I die,I will refuse to do wrongby saying you are right,
6 because each day my conscienceagrees that I am innocent.
7 I pray that my enemieswill suffer no lessthan the wicked.
8 Such people are hopeless,and God All-Powerfulwill cut them down,
9 without listeningwhen they beg for mercy.
10 And that is what God should do,because they don't like himor ever pray.
11 Now I will explain in detailwhat God All-Powerful does.
12 All of you have seen these thingsfor yourselves.So you have no excuse.
13 Here is how God All-Powerfultreats those who are wickedand brutal.
14 They may have many children,but most of them will go hungryor suffer a violent death.
15 Others will die of disease,and their widowswon't be able to weep.
16 The wicked may collect richesand clothes in abundanceas easily as clay.
17 But God's people will wearclothes taken from themand divide up their riches.
18 No homes built by the wickedwill outlast a cocoonor a shack.
19 Those sinners may go to bed rich,but they will wake up poor.
20 Terror will strike at nightlike a flood or a storm.
21 Then a scorching windwill sweep them away
22 without showing mercy,as they try to escape.
23 At last, the wind will celebratebecause they are gone.