Job 27

1 Job 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);

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

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

6 I 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.

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

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

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

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

12 Behold, 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Around Job 27

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

About Job as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

The storm comes at last. After chapters of grief, argument and silence from heaven, the LORD answers Job “out of the whirlwind”. He does not explain. He asks: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?”

How Job got there is the rest of the book. He is a good man who loses his children, his wealth and his health. Three friends come to comfort him and end up arguing that he must have sinned to suffer so much. Job insists he has not, and demands an answer from God.

A younger man, Elihu, adds his view. Then God speaks, not with an explanation but with questions about the making and running of the world. Job is humbled. God says that Job spoke rightly and the friends did not, and Job is restored.

Background

The story is set in the land of Uz, outside Israel, in a time that resembles the age of Abraham. Its author and date are unknown. The opening and closing are prose; everything between is poetry, some of the most demanding in the Bible.

How Christians read it

The book rejects the idea that suffering is always punishment for sin, without offering a full account of why people suffer. Readers differ on what God's answer means: a rebuke, a comfort, or an invitation to trust a wisdom larger than our own. The accuser in the opening chapters is understood by most Christian tradition as Satan; the Hebrew uses the word as a title. James 5:11 holds up Job as an example of endurance.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 19 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes