Job 21
1 And Job answered and said,
Then Job answered, and said:
2 Hear attentively my speech, and let this replace your consolations.
Hear, I beseech you, my words, and do penance.
3 Suffer me and I will speak; and after I have spoken, mock on!
Suffer me, and I will speak, and after, if you please, laugh at my words.
4 As for me, is my complaint to a man? or wherefore should not my spirit be impatient?
Is my debate against man, that I should not have just reason to be troubled?
5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay the hand upon the mouth.
Hearken to me and be astonished, and lay your finger on your mouth.
6 Even when I think [thereon], I am affrighted, and trembling taketh hold of my flesh.
As for me, when I remember, I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
7 Wherefore do the wicked live, grow old, yea, become mighty in power?
Why then do the wicked live, are they advanced, and strengthened with riches?
8 Their seed is established with them in their sight, and their offspring before their eyes.
Their seed continueth before them, a multitude of kinsmen, and of children’s children in their sight.
9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.
Their houses are secure and peaceable, and the rod of God is not upon them.
10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
Their cattle have conceived, and failed not: their cow has calved, and is not deprived of her fruit.
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children dance and play.
12 They shout to the tambour and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
They take the timbrel, and the harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment they go down to hell. (Sheol h7585)
14 And they say unto God, Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways!
Who have said to God: Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy 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 doth it profit us if we pray to him?
16 Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand. The counsel of the wicked be far from me!
Yet because their good things are not in their hand, may the counsel of the wicked be far from me.
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 shall the lamp of the wicked be put out, and a deluge come upon them, and he shall distribute the sorrows of his wrath?
18 Do they become as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away?
They shall be as chaff before the face of the wind, and as ashes which the whirlwind scattereth.
19 God layeth up [the punishment of] his iniquity for his children; he rewardeth him, and he shall know [it]:
God shall lay up the sorrow of the father for his children: and when he shall repay, then shall he know.
20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the fury of the Almighty.
His eyes shall see his own destruction, and he shall drink of 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 is it to him what befalleth his house after him: and if the number of his months be diminished by one half?
22 Can any teach God knowledge? And he it is that judgeth those that are high.
Shall any one teach God knowledge, who judgeth those that are high?
23 One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet;
One man dieth strong, and hale, rich and happy.
24 His sides are full of fat, and the marrow of his bones is moistened;
His bowels are full of fat, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
25 And another dieth in bitterness of soul, and hath not tasted good:
But another dieth in bitterness of soul without any riches:
26 Together they lie down in the dust, and the worms cover them.
And yet they shall sleep together in the dust, and worms shall cover them.
27 Lo, I know your thoughts, and the devices ye wrongfully imagine against me.
Surely I know your thoughts, and your unjust judgments against 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 is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?
29 Have ye not asked the wayfarers? and do ye not regard their tokens:
Ask any one of them that go by the way, and you shall perceive that he knoweth these same things.
30 That the wicked is reserved for the day of calamity? They are led forth to the day of wrath.
Because the wicked man is reserved to the day of destruction, and he shall be brought to the day of wrath.
31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
Who shall reprove his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
32 Yet is he carried to the graves, and watch is kept over the tomb.
He shall be brought to the graves, and shall watch in the heap of the dead.
33 The clods of the valley are sweet unto him; and every man followeth suit after him, as there were innumerable before him.
He hath been acceptable to the gravel of Cocytus, and he shall draw every man after him, and there are innumerable before him.
34 How then comfort ye me in vain? Your answers remain perfidious.
How then do ye comfort me in vain, whereas your answer is shewn to be repugnant to truth?
