Job 15:26-35

The Message

Always at Odds with God

^17-26“I’ve a thing or two to tell you, so listen up!
    I’m letting you in on my views;
It’s what wise men and women have always taught,
    holding nothing back from what they were taught
By their parents, back in the days
    when they had this land all to themselves:
Those who live by their own rules, not God’s, can expect nothing but trouble,
    and the longer they live, the worse it gets.
Every little sound terrifies them.
    Just when they think they have it made, disaster strikes.
They despair of things ever getting better—
    they’re on the list of people for whom things always turn out for the worst.
They wander here and there,
    never knowing where the next meal is coming from—
    every day is doomsday!
They live in constant terror,
    always with their backs up against the wall
Because they insist on shaking their fists at God,
    defying God Almighty to his face,
Always and ever at odds with God,
    always on the defensive.

^27-35“Even if they’re the picture of health,
    trim and fit and youthful,
They’ll end up living in a ghost town
    sleeping in a hovel not fit for a dog,
    a ramshackle shack.
They’ll never get ahead,
    never amount to much of anything.
And then death—don’t think they’ll escape that!
    They’ll end up shriveled weeds,
    brought down by a puff of God’s breath.
There’s a lesson here: Whoever invests in lies,
    gets lies for interest,
Paid in full before the due date.
    Some investment!
They’ll be like fruit frost-killed before it ripens,
    like buds sheared off before they bloom.
The godless are fruitless—a barren crew;
    a life built on bribes goes up in smoke.
They have sex with sin and give birth to evil.
    Their lives are wombs for breeding deceit.”