Job 21
1 Then Job answered:
And Job answers and says:
2 “Listen carefully to my words; let this be your consolation to me.
“Hear my word diligently, And this is your consolation.
3 Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.
Bear with me, and I speak, And after my speaking—you may deride.
4 Is my complaint against a man? Then why should I not be impatient?
[Is] my complaint [against] man? And if [so], why may my temper not become short?
5 Look at me and be appalled; put your hand over your mouth.
Turn to me, and be astonished, And put hand to mouth.
6 When I remember, terror takes hold, and my body trembles in horror.
Indeed, if I have remembered, then I have been troubled. And my flesh has taken fright.
7 Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
Why do the wicked live? They have become old, Indeed, they have been mighty in wealth.
8 Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes.
Their seed is established, Before their face 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] peace without fear, Nor [is] a rod of God on them.
10 Their bulls breed without fail; their cows bear calves and do not miscarry.
His bullock breeds without fail. His cow brings forth safely, and does not miscarry.
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about,
They send forth their sucklings as a flock, And their children skip,
12 singing to the tambourine and lyre and making merry at the sound of the flute.
They lift [themselves] up at timbrel and harp, And rejoice at the sound of a pipe.
They wear out their days in good, And in a moment go down [to] Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
14 Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways.
And they say to God, Turn aside from us, And the knowledge of Your ways We have not desired.
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’
What [is] the Mighty One that we serve Him? And what do we profit when we meet with Him?
16 Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.
Behold, their good [is] not in their hand (The counsel of the wicked Has been 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 is the lamp of the wicked extinguished, And their calamity comes on them? He apportions pangs in His anger.
18 Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?
They are as straw before wind, And as chaff a windstorm has stolen away,
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 lays up for his sons his sorrow, He gives repayment to him—and he knows.
20 Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.
His own eyes see his destruction, And he drinks of the wrath of the Mighty.
21 For what does he care about his household after him, when the number of his months has run out?
For what [is] his delight in his house after him, And the number of his months cut off?
22 Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since He judges those on high?
Does [one] teach knowledge to God, Since He judges [those] on high?
23 One man dies full of vigor, completely secure and at ease.
This [one] dies in his perfect strength, Wholly at ease and quiet.
24 His body is well nourished, and his bones are rich with marrow.
His breasts have been full of milk, And marrow moistens his bones.
25 Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, having never tasted prosperity.
And this [one] dies with a bitter soul, And has not eaten with gladness.
26 But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both.
Together they lie down on the dust, And the worm covers them over.
27 Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me.
Behold, I have known your thoughts, And the schemes against me you do wrongfully.
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 noble? And where the tent—the dwelling places of the wicked?
29 Have you never asked those who travel the roads? Do you not accept their reports?
Have you not asked those passing by the way? And do you not know their signs?
30 Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath.
That the wicked is spared to a day of calamity. They are brought to a day of wrath.
31 Who denounces his behavior to his face? Who repays him for what he has done?
Who declares his way to his face? And [for] that which he has done, Who gives repayment to him?
32 He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb.
And he is brought to the graves, And a watch is kept over the heap.
33 The clods of the valley are sweet to him; everyone follows behind him, and those before him are without number.
The clods of the valley have been sweet to him, And he draws every man after him, And there is no numbering before him.
34 So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood.”
And how do you comfort me [with] vanity, And trespass has been left in your answers?”
