A thoughtful guide for your walk of faith Read with context, practice with grace.
Wisdom & Poetry · WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE

Job 27

Suffering, protest, limited human knowledge, friendship, and encounter with the sovereign God.

Old Testament

Job 27

1Job again took up his parable, and said,

2“As God lives, who has taken away my right, the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter

3(for the length of my life is still in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils);

4surely my lips will not speak unrighteousness, neither will my tongue utter deceit.

5Far be it from me that I should justify you. Until I die I will not put away my integrity from me.

6I hold fast to my righteousness, and will not let it go. My heart will not reproach me so long as I live.

7“Let my enemy be as the wicked. Let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous.

8For what is the hope of the godless, when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?

9Will God hear his cry when trouble comes on him?

10Will he delight himself in the Almighty, and call on God at all times?

11I will teach you about the hand of God. I will not conceal that which is with the Almighty.

12Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves; why then have you become altogether vain?

13“This is the portion of a wicked man with God, the heritage of oppressors, which they receive from the Almighty.

14If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword. His offspring will not be satisfied with bread.

15Those who remain of him will be buried in death. His widows will make no lamentation.

16Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare clothing as the clay;

17he may prepare it, but the just will put it on, and the innocent will divide the silver.

18He builds his house as the moth, as a booth which the watchman makes.

19He lies down rich, but he will not do so again. He opens his eyes, and he is not.

20Terrors overtake him like waters. A storm steals him away in the night.

21The east wind carries him away, and he departs. It sweeps him out of his place.

22For it hurls at him, and does not spare, as he flees away from his hand.

23Men will clap their hands at him, and will hiss him out of his place.

READ IN CONTEXT

Before applying this chapter

Suffering, protest, limited human knowledge, friendship, and encounter with the sovereign God. Read Job 27 within the complete Job overview, and use the contextual Bible reading guide before forming a personal application. Chapter divisions aid navigation, but the literary unit may begin earlier or continue into the next chapter.

Observe first

Mark repeated words, changes of speaker, commands, promises, contrasts, questions, and the relationship between paragraphs.

Apply responsibly

Distinguish description from command and immediate audience from later readers before forming a personal application.

TEXT-DERIVED READING NOTES

What to notice in Job 27

Job 27 contains 23 verses and about 366 words in this translation. These observations come from the chapter itself; they are prompts for close reading, not claims about its only possible meaning.

The opening movement

Verse 1 begins: “Job again took up his parable, and said,” Ask what situation, voice, image, or argument this opening establishes for everything that follows.

The closing movement

Verse 23 closes: “Men will clap their hands at him, and will hiss him out of his place.” Compare the ending with the opening and note what changed, resolved, intensified, or remained open.

Vocabulary worth tracing

Recurring or prominent content words include will, away, almighty, life, wicked, hand. Follow where each word appears and whether its meaning shifts with the speaker or setting.

COMMON QUESTIONS

About Job 27

Which Bible translation is shown here?+

This page reproduces the World English Bible Protestant edition (WEBP), a modern-English translation dedicated to the public domain.

How should I cite a specific verse?+

Use the book, chapter, and verse—for example, Job 27:1—and name the World English Bible if the wording matters. Each verse number above is a direct anchor link.

Does the chapter number define the complete literary unit?+

Not always. Chapter and verse numbers were added for navigation. Check the paragraphs, scenes, poetic stanzas, or argument before and after this chapter.

A SMALL NEXT STEP

You do not have to have everything figured out.

Begin with one honest question, one passage read carefully, and one faithful next step.

Start with prayer