Job 21
1 And Job answered and said,
Then Job answered:
2 Hear attentively my speech, and let this replace your consolations.
“Listen carefully to my words; let this be your consolation to me.
3 Suffer me and I will speak; and after I have spoken, mock on!
Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.
4 As for me, is my complaint to a man? or wherefore should not my spirit be impatient?
Is my complaint against a man? Then why should I not be impatient?
5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay the hand upon the mouth.
Look at me and be appalled; put your hand over your mouth.
6 Even when I think [thereon], I am affrighted, and trembling taketh hold of my flesh.
When I remember, terror takes hold, and my body trembles in horror.
7 Wherefore do the wicked live, grow old, yea, become mighty in power?
Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
8 Their seed is established with them in their sight, and their offspring before their eyes.
Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.
Their homes are safe from fear; no rod of punishment from God is upon them.
10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
Their bulls breed without fail; their cows bear calves and do not miscarry.
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about,
12 They shout to the tambour and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
singing to the tambourine and lyre and making merry at the sound of the flute.
They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace. (Sheol h7585)
14 And they say unto God, Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways!
Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways.
15 What is the Almighty that we should serve him? and what are we profited if we pray unto him?
Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’
16 Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand. The counsel of the wicked be far from me!
Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.
17 How often is the lamp of the wicked put out, and cometh their calamity upon them? Doth he distribute sorrows [to them] in his anger?
How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come upon them? Does God, in His anger, apportion destruction?
18 Do they become as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away?
Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?
19 God layeth up [the punishment of] his iniquity for his children; he rewardeth him, and he shall know [it]:
It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children. Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it.
20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the fury of the Almighty.
Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what pleasure should he have in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off?
For what does he care about his household after him, when the number of his months has run out?
22 Can any teach God knowledge? And he it is that judgeth those that are high.
Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since He judges those on high?
23 One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet;
One man dies full of vigor, completely secure and at ease.
24 His sides are full of fat, and the marrow of his bones is moistened;
His body is well nourished, and his bones are rich with marrow.
25 And another dieth in bitterness of soul, and hath not tasted good:
Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, having never tasted prosperity.
26 Together they lie down in the dust, and the worms cover them.
But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both.
27 Lo, I know your thoughts, and the devices ye wrongfully imagine against me.
Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me.
28 For ye say, Where is the house of the noble? and where the tent of the dwellings of the wicked?
For you say, ‘Where now is the nobleman’s house, and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell?’
29 Have ye not asked the wayfarers? and do ye not regard their tokens:
Have you never asked those who travel the roads? Do you not accept their reports?
30 That the wicked is reserved for the day of calamity? They are led forth to the day of wrath.
Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath.
31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
Who denounces his behavior to his face? Who repays him for what he has done?
32 Yet is he carried to the graves, and watch is kept over the tomb.
He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb.
33 The clods of the valley are sweet unto him; and every man followeth suit after him, as there were innumerable before him.
The clods of the valley are sweet to him; everyone follows behind him, and those before him are without number.
34 How then comfort ye me in vain? Your answers remain perfidious.
So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood.”
