Job 21
1 Then Job answered:
Then Job made answer and said,
2 “Listen carefully to my words; let this be your consolation to me.
Give attention with care to my words; and let this be your comfort.
3 Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.
Let me say what is in my mind, and after that, go on making sport of me.
4 Is my complaint against a man? Then why should I not be impatient?
As for me, is my outcry against man? is it then to be wondered at if my spirit is troubled?
5 Look at me and be appalled; put your hand over your mouth.
Take note of me and be full of wonder, put your hand on your mouth.
6 When I remember, terror takes hold, and my body trembles in horror.
At the very thought of it my flesh is shaking with fear.
7 Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
Why is life given to the evil-doers? why do they become old and strong in power?
8 Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes.
Their children are ever with them, and their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their homes are safe from fear; no rod of punishment from God is upon them.
Their houses are free from fear, and the rod of God does not come on them.
10 Their bulls breed without fail; their cows bear calves and do not miscarry.
Their ox is ready at all times to give seed; their cow gives birth, without dropping her young.
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about,
They send out their young ones like a flock, and their children have pleasure in the dance,
12 singing to the tambourine and lyre and making merry at the sound of the flute.
They make songs to the instruments of music, and are glad at the sound of the pipe.
Their days come to an end without trouble, and suddenly they go down to the underworld. (Sheol h7585)
14 Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways.
Though they said to God, Go away from us, for we have no desire for the knowledge of your ways.
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’
What is the Ruler of all, that we may give him worship? and what profit is it to us to make prayer to him?
16 Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.
Truly, is not their well-being in their power? (The purpose of the evil-doers is far from me.)
17 How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come upon them? Does God, in His anger, apportion destruction?
How frequently is the light of the evil-doers put out, or does trouble come on them? how frequently does his wrath take them with cords?
18 Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?
How frequently are they as dry stems before the wind, or as grass taken away by the storm-wind?
19 It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children. Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it.
You say, God keeps punishment stored up for his children. Let him send it on the man himself, so that he may have the punishment of it!
20 Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.
Let his eyes see his trouble, and let him be full of the wrath of the Ruler of all!
21 For what does he care about his household after him, when the number of his months has run out?
For what interest has he in his house after him, when the number of his months is ended?
22 Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since He judges those on high?
Is anyone able to give teaching to God? for he is the judge of those who are on high.
23 One man dies full of vigor, completely secure and at ease.
One comes to his end in complete well-being, full of peace and quiet:
24 His body is well nourished, and his bones are rich with marrow.
His buckets are full of milk, and there is no loss of strength in his bones.
25 Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, having never tasted prosperity.
And another comes to his end with a bitter soul, without ever tasting good.
26 But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both.
Together they go down to the dust, and are covered by the worm.
27 Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me.
See, I am conscious of your thoughts, and of your violent purposes against me;
28 For you say, ‘Where now is the nobleman’s house, and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell?’
For you say, Where is the house of the ruler, and where is the tent of the evil-doer?
29 Have you never asked those who travel the roads? Do you not accept their reports?
Have you not put the question to the travellers, and do you not take note of their experience?
30 Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath.
How the evil man goes free in the day of trouble, and has salvation in the day of wrath?
31 Who denounces his behavior to his face? Who repays him for what he has done?
Who will make his way clear to his face? and if he has done a thing, who gives him punishment for it?
32 He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb.
He is taken to his last resting-place, and keeps watch over it.
33 The clods of the valley are sweet to him; everyone follows behind him, and those before him are without number.
The earth of the valley covering his bones is sweet to him, and all men come after him, as there were unnumbered before him.
34 So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood.”
Why then do you give me comfort with words in which there is no profit, when you see that there is nothing in your answers but deceit?
