Job 21
1 And Job answered and said,
Then responded Job, and said: —
2 Hear attentively my speech, and let this replace your consolations.
Hear ye patiently my words, and let this be your consolation:
3 Suffer me and I will speak; and after I have spoken, mock on!
Suffer me, that, I, may speak, and, after I have spoken, thou canst mock!
4 As for me, is my complaint to a man? or wherefore should not my spirit be impatient?
Did, I, unto man, make my complaint? Wherefore, then, should my spirit not be impatient?
5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay the hand upon the mouth.
Turn round to me, and be astonished, and lay hand on mouth!
6 Even when I think [thereon], I am affrighted, and trembling taketh hold of my flesh.
When I call to mind, then am I dismayed, and there seizeth my flesh a shuddering: —
7 Wherefore do the wicked live, grow old, yea, become mighty in power?
Wherefore do, lawless men, live, advance in years, even wax mighty in power?
8 Their seed is established with them in their sight, and their offspring before their eyes.
Their seed, is established in their sight, along with them, yea their offspring, before their eyes;
9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.
Their houses, are at peace, without dread, neither is, the rod of GOD, upon them;
10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
His bull, covereth, and causeth not aversion, His cow safely calveth, and casteth not her young;
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
They send forth—like a flock—their young ones, and, their children, skip about for joy;
12 They shout to the tambour and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
They rejoice aloud as [with] timbrel and lyre, and make merry to the sound of the pipe;
They complete, in prosperity, their days, and, in a moment to hades, they sink down. (Sheol h7585)
14 And they say unto God, Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways!
Yet they said unto GOD, Depart from us, and, In the knowledge of thy ways, find we no pleasure.
15 What is the Almighty that we should serve him? and what are we profited if we pray unto him?
What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? Or what shall we profit, that we should urge him?
16 Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand. The counsel of the wicked be far from me!
Lo! not in their own hand, is their welfare, The counsel of lawless men, is 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 oft, the lamp of the lawless, goeth out, and their calamity, cometh upon them, Sorrows, apportioneth he in his anger;
18 Do they become as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away?
They become as straw before the wind, and as chaff, which the storm stealeth away.
19 God layeth up [the punishment of] his iniquity for his children; he rewardeth him, and he shall know [it]:
Shall, GOD, reserve, for his children, his sorrow? Let him recompense him so that he may know it;
20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the fury of the Almighty.
His own eyes, shall see his misfortune, and, the wrath of the Almighty, shall he drink.
21 For what pleasure should he have in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off?
For what shall be his pleasure in his house after him, when, the number of his months, is cut in twain?
22 Can any teach God knowledge? And he it is that judgeth those that are high.
Is it, to GOD, one can teach knowledge, seeing that, he, shall judge, them who are on high?
23 One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet;
This, man dieth, in the very perfection of his prosperity, wholly tranquil and secure;
24 His sides are full of fat, and the marrow of his bones is moistened;
His veins, are filled with nourishment, and, the marrow of his bones, is fresh;
25 And another dieth in bitterness of soul, and hath not tasted good:
Whereas, this other man, dieth, in bitterness of soul, and hath never tasted good fortune:
26 Together they lie down in the dust, and the worms cover them.
Together, in the dust, they lie down, and, the worm, spreadeth a covering over them.
27 Lo, I know your thoughts, and the devices ye wrongfully imagine against me.
Lo! I know your plans, and the devices, wherewith ye would do me violence!
28 For ye say, Where is the house of the noble? and where the tent of the dwellings of the wicked?
For ye say, Where is the house of the noble-minded? And where the dwelling-tent of the lawless?
29 Have ye not asked the wayfarers? and do ye not regard their tokens:
Have ye not asked the passers-by in the way? And, their signs, can ye not recognise?
30 That the wicked is reserved for the day of calamity? They are led forth to the day of wrath.
That, to the day of calamity, is the wicked reserved, to the day of indignant visitation, are they led.
31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
Who can declare—to his face—his way? And, what, he, hath done, who shall recompense to him?
32 Yet is he carried to the graves, and watch is kept over the tomb.
Yet, he, to the graves, is borne, and, over the tomb, one keepeth watch;
33 The clods of the valley are sweet unto him; and every man followeth suit after him, as there were innumerable before him.
Pleasant to him are the mounds of the torrent-bed, —and, after him, doth every man march, as, before him, there were without number.
34 How then comfort ye me in vain? Your answers remain perfidious.
How then should ye comfort me with vanity, since, as for your replies, there lurketh, [in them] treachery?
