Job 21
1 Then Job responded by saying:
Then Job answered and said,
2 I beseech you to hear my words and to do penance.
“Listen carefully to my words, and let this be the comfort you offer to me.
3 Permit me, and I will speak, and afterwards, if you see fit, you can laugh at my words.
Put up with me, and I also will speak; after I have spoken, mock on.
4 Is my dispute against man, so that I would have no reason to be discouraged?
As for me, is my complaint to a person? Why should I not be impatient?
5 Listen to me and be astonished, and place a finger over your mouth.
Look at me and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.
6 As for me, when I think it over, I am afraid, and trembling convulses my body.
When I think about my sufferings, I am terrified, and trembling seizes my body.
7 Why then do the impious live, having been lifted up and strengthened with riches?
Why do wicked people continue to live, become old, and grow mighty in power?
8 They see their offspring continue before them: a commotion of close relatives and of children’s children in their sight.
Their descendants are established with them in their sight, and their offspring are established before their eyes.
9 Their houses have been secure and peaceable, and there is no staff of God over them.
Their houses are safe from fear; neither is the rod of God on them.
10 Their cattle have conceived and have not miscarried; their cow has given birth and is not deprived of her newborn.
Their bull breeds; it does not fail to do so; their cow gives birth and does not lose her calf prematurely.
11 Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children jump around playfully.
They send out their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
12 They take up the timbrel and the lyre, and they rejoice at the sound of the organ.
They sing to the tambourine and harp and rejoice with the music of the flute.
They spend their days in prosperity, and they go down quietly to Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
14 Who has said to God, “Depart from us, for we do not want the knowledge of your ways.
They say to God, 'Depart from us for we do not wish any knowledge of your ways.
15 Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? And how is it helpful to us if we pray to him?”
What is the Almighty, that we should worship him? What advantage would we get if we prayed to him?'
16 It is true that their good things are not in their power. May the counsel of the impious be far from me!
See, is not their prosperity in their own hands? I have nothing to do with the advice of wicked people.
17 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?
How often is it that the lamp of wicked people is put out, or that their calamity comes upon them? How often does it happen that God distributes sorrows to them in his anger?
18 They will be like chaff before the face of the wind, and like ashes that the whirlwind scatters.
How often is it that they become like stubble before the wind or like chaff that the storm carries away?
19 God will preserve the grief of the father for his sons, and, when he repays, then he will understand.
You say, 'God lays up one's guilt for his children to pay.' Let him pay it himself, so that he might know his guilt.
20 His eyes will see his own destruction, and he will drink from the wrath of the Almighty.
Let his eyes see his own destruction, and let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what does he care what happens to his house after him, or if the number of its months are reduced by half?
For what does he care about his family after him when the number of his months is cut off?
22 Can anyone teach holy knowledge to God, who judges the exalted?
Can anyone teach God knowledge since he judges even those who are high?
23 This one dies strong and healthy, rich and happy.
One man dies in his full strength, being completely quiet and at ease.
24 His gut is full of fat and his bones are moistened with marrow.
His body is full of milk, and the marrow of his bones is moist.
25 In truth, another dies in bitterness of soul, without any resources.
Another man dies in bitterness of soul, one who has never experienced anything good.
26 And yet they will sleep together in the dust, and worms will cover them.
They lie down alike in the dust; the worms cover them both.
27 Surely, I know your thoughts and your sinful judgments against me.
See, I know your thoughts, and the ways in which you wish to wrong me.
28 For you say, “Where is the house of the ruler, and where are the tabernacles of the impious?”
For you say, 'Where now is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked man once lived?'
29 Ask any passerby whom you wish, and you will realize that he understands these same things:
Have you never asked traveling people? Do you not know the evidence they can tell,
30 that the evil-doer is reserved for the day of destruction, and he will be led to the day of wrath.
that the wicked man is kept from the day of calamity, and that he is led away from the day of wrath?
31 Who will reprove his way to his face, and who will repay him for what he has done?
Who will condemn the wicked man's way to his face? Who will repay him for what he has done?
32 He will be led to the tomb, and he will remain awake in the chaos of the dead.
Yet he will be borne to the grave; men will keep watch over his tomb.
33 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.
The clods of the valley will be sweet to him; all people will follow after him, as there were innumerable people before him.
34 Therefore, how long will you console me in vain, when your answer is shown to be repugnant to truth?
How then do you comfort me with nonsense, since in your answers there is nothing but falsehood?”
