Job 21
1 Then Job answered:
And Job answereth and saith: —
2 “Listen carefully to my words; let this be your consolation to me.
Hear ye diligently my word, 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 — ye may deride.
4 Is my complaint against a man? Then why should I not be impatient?
I — to man [is] my complaint? and if [so], wherefore May not my temper become short?
5 Look at me and be appalled; put your hand over your mouth.
Turn unto me, and be astonished, And put hand to mouth.
6 When I remember, terror takes hold, and my body trembles in horror.
Yea, if I have remembered, then I have been troubled. And my flesh hath taken fright.
7 Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
Wherefore do the wicked live? They have become old, Yea, 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 upon them.
10 Their bulls breed without fail; their cows bear calves and do not miscarry.
His bullock hath eaten corn, and doth not loath. His cow bringeth forth safely, And doth not miscarry.
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about,
They send forth as a flock their sucklings, 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 an organ.
They wear out in good their days, And in a moment [to] Sheol go down. (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 Thy 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.
Lo, not in their hand [is] their good, (The counsel of the wicked Hath 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 oft is the lamp of the wicked extinguished, And come on them doth their calamity? Pangs He apportioneth 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 hurricane hath 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 layeth up for his sons his sorrow, He giveth recompense unto him — and he knoweth.
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 of the wrath of the Mighty he drinketh.
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?
To God doth [one] teach knowledge, And He the high doth judge?
23 One man dies full of vigor, completely secure and at ease.
This [one] dieth 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 his bones doth moisten.
25 Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, having never tasted prosperity.
And this [one] dieth with a bitter soul, And have not eaten with gladness.
26 But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both.
Together — on the dust they lie down, And the worm doth cover them over.
27 Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me.
Lo, I have known your thoughts, And the devices against me ye do wrongfully.
28 For you say, ‘Where now is the nobleman’s house, and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell?’
For ye say, 'Where [is] the house of the noble? And where the tent — The tabernacles of the wicked?'
29 Have you never asked those who travel the roads? Do you not accept their reports?
Have ye not asked those passing by the way? And their signs do ye not know?
30 Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath.
That to a day of calamity is the wicked spared. To a day of wrath they are brought.
31 Who denounces his behavior to his face? Who repays him for what he has done?
Who doth declare to his face his way? And [for] that which he hath done, Who doth give recompence to him?
32 He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb.
And he — to the graves he is brought. And over the heap a watch is kept.
33 The clods of the valley are sweet to him; everyone follows behind him, and those before him are without number.
Sweet to him have been the clods of the valley, And after him every man he draweth, And before him there is no numbering.
34 So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood.”
And how do ye comfort me [with] vanity, And in your answers hath been left trespass?
