Job
Chapter 27
Job answers his three friends again, swearing by God that he will not agree with them or admit to guilt he does not have. He insists he will hold on to his innocence as long as he lives. Then he describes what happens to wicked and cruel people: their children, their money, and their houses all come to nothing, and they are swept away like a man caught in a storm.
Plain reading written for preteens. Clear and complete, at about a fifth grade reading level.
Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,
1Job went on speaking, and said:
The KJV word "parable" here does not mean a short story with a lesson. It means a formal speech, the kind a wise man gives.
2As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;
2"God is alive, and I swear by him, even though he has refused me justice and made my life bitter.
3All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
3As long as I am still breathing, and God's breath is in my nose,
4My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
4my lips will not say anything evil, and my tongue will not tell any lies.
5God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.
5I will never say that you three are right. Until the day I die, I will not give up my honesty.
"God forbid" in the KJV is simply a strong way of saying "absolutely not." It is a refusal, not a curse.
6My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.
6I am holding on to my innocence and will not let it go. My own heart will not accuse me as long as I live.
7Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.
7Let my enemy be treated the way wicked people are treated, and whoever attacks me be treated like a cheat.
8For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?
8What hope does a fake person have, even after he has piled up money, when God takes his life away?
9Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?
9Will God listen to him when trouble hits and he cries out?
10Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?
10Will he find any joy in the Almighty? Will he call on God at all times?
11I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal.
11I will teach you about God's power. I will not hide how the Almighty works.
12Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?
12Look, you have all seen this for yourselves. So why do you keep saying such empty things?
13This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.
13Here is what God gives a wicked man, and what cruel men get from the Almighty:
14If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
14If he has many children, they will die by the sword. His children will never have enough bread to eat.
15Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.
15The ones who are left will die of disease and be buried, and their widows will not even weep for them.
16Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;
16He may pile up silver like dust and stack up clothes like heaps of clay,
17He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.
17but honest people will end up wearing what he stored, and innocent people will split his silver.
18He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh.
18The house he builds is as flimsy as a moth's cocoon, or a shack a watchman throws up for one season.
19The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not.
19He goes to bed rich, but it is the last time. He opens his eyes, and it is all gone.
20Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.
20Terror rushes over him like a flood. A storm snatches him away in the night.
21The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place.
21The east wind picks him up and he is gone. It sweeps him out of the place where he lived.
22For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.
22It slams into him and shows no mercy, while he tries hard to escape its power.
"He would fain flee" in the KJV means "he would gladly escape," or "he is desperate to get away."
23Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.
23It claps its hands at him and hisses him out of his place.
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