¶ The constantnesse and perfytenesse of Iob, and the parte of the vnfaythfull with God.
CAPI. XXVII.
ANd Iob proceded and went forth in his [unspec A] communicacyon, sayenge: As truly as God lyueth (whiche hath taken awaye ☞ my iudgement) and the almyghtye, that hath vexed my mynde: My lyppes shal talke of no vanite, and my tongue shall speake no disceate, whyle my breth is in me, & as longe as the wynde (that God hath gyuen me) is in my nose thyrls, God forbyd, that I shulde graunt your cause to be ryght. As for me / vntyll myne ende come wyll I neuer go fro myne innocency.
My ryghtwyse dealynge kepe I fast, which [unspec B] I wyl not forsake, my herte shall not reproue me of my dayes. Therfore, myne enemy shal be found as the vngodly, and he that taketh parte agaynst me, as the vnryghteous. For what hope hath the ypocryte though he haue greate good, and though God gyue hym ry∣ches after his hertes desyre? Doth god heare hym the sooner, when he cryeth vnto hym in his necessite? Hath he soche pleasure & delyte in the almyghtye, that he dare alway cal vpō god? I wyll teache you in the name of God / and the thynge that I haue of the almygh∣tye, wyll I not kepe from you.
Beholde, ye stand in your owne conceyte, [unspec C] as though ye knewe all thynges. Wherfore then do ye go aboute with soch vayne word{is}, sayenge. * 1.1 This is the porcyon that the wyc∣ked shall haue of god, and the herytage that Tyrauntes shall receyue of the almyghtye. Yf he get many Chyldren, they shall perysshe with the swerde, and his posteryte shall haue scarcenesse of bread. Loke whome he leaueth behynde hym, they shall dye & be buryed, and no man shall haue pitye of his wydowes. Though he haue as moch money as the dust of the earth, and rayment as redy as the clay he maye well prepare it, but the Godly shall put it vpon hym, and the innocent shall deale out the money.
His house shall endure as the moth, and [unspec D] as a boothe that the watchman maketh. * 1.2 When the rych man dyeth, he caryeth no∣thynge with hym: he is gone in the twynke∣lynge of an eye and hath nothyng. Destruc∣cyon taketh hold vpō him as a water floode / and the tempest stealeth hym awaye in the nyght season. A vehement East wynde ca∣ryeth hym hence, & departeth, a storme pluc∣keth him out of his place. It russheth in vpō hym, and spareth hym not, he may not escape from the power therof. Then clap men theyr handes at hym, yea, & iest of hym when they loke vpon his place.