Job 21
1 Then Job answered:
Then Job responded by saying:
2 “Listen carefully to my words; let this be your consolation to me.
I beseech you to hear my words and to do penance.
3 Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.
Permit me, and I will speak, and afterwards, if you see fit, you can laugh at my words.
4 Is my complaint against a man? Then why should I not be impatient?
Is my dispute against man, so that I would have no reason to be discouraged?
5 Look at me and be appalled; put your hand over your mouth.
Listen to me and be astonished, and place a finger over your mouth.
6 When I remember, terror takes hold, and my body trembles in horror.
As for me, when I think it over, I am afraid, and trembling convulses my body.
7 Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
Why then do the impious live, having been lifted up and strengthened with riches?
8 Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes.
They see their offspring continue before them: a commotion of close relatives and of children’s children in their sight.
9 Their homes are safe from fear; no rod of punishment from God is upon them.
Their houses have been secure and peaceable, and there is no staff of God over them.
10 Their bulls breed without fail; their cows bear calves and do not miscarry.
Their cattle have conceived and have not miscarried; their cow has given birth and is not deprived of her newborn.
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about,
Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children jump around playfully.
12 singing to the tambourine and lyre and making merry at the sound of the flute.
They take up the timbrel and the lyre, and they rejoice at the sound of the organ.
Their days are prolonged in wealth, yet, in an instant, they descend into hell. (Sheol h7585)
14 Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways.
Who has said to God, “Depart from us, for we do not want 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?’
Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? And how is it helpful to us if we pray to him?”
16 Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.
It is true that their good things are not in their power. May the counsel of the impious be 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 often will the lamp of the wicked be extinguished, and a deluge overtake them, and how often will he distribute the afflictions of his wrath?
18 Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?
They will be like chaff before the face of the wind, and like ashes that the whirlwind scatters.
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.
God will preserve the grief of the father for his sons, and, when he repays, then he will understand.
20 Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.
His eyes will see his own destruction, and he will drink from the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what does he care about his household after him, when the number of his months has run out?
For what does he care what happens to his house after him, or if the number of its months are reduced by half?
22 Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since He judges those on high?
Can anyone teach holy knowledge to God, who judges the exalted?
23 One man dies full of vigor, completely secure and at ease.
This one dies strong and healthy, rich and happy.
24 His body is well nourished, and his bones are rich with marrow.
His gut is full of fat and his bones are moistened with marrow.
25 Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, having never tasted prosperity.
In truth, another dies in bitterness of soul, without any resources.
26 But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both.
And yet they will sleep together in the dust, and worms will cover them.
27 Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me.
Surely, I know your thoughts and your sinful judgments 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 are the tabernacles of the impious?”
29 Have you never asked those who travel the roads? Do you not accept their reports?
Ask any passerby whom you wish, and you will realize that he understands these same things:
30 Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath.
that the evil-doer is reserved for the day of destruction, and he will be led to the day of wrath.
31 Who denounces his behavior to his face? Who repays him for what he has done?
Who will reprove his way to his face, and who will repay him for what he has done?
32 He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb.
He will be led to the tomb, and he will remain awake in the chaos of the dead.
33 The clods of the valley are sweet to him; everyone follows behind him, and those before him are without number.
He has been found acceptable to the banks of the River of Lamentation, and he will draw any man towards him, and there are countless before him.
34 So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood.”
Therefore, how long will you console me in vain, when your answer is shown to be repugnant to truth?
