Job 21
1 Then Job answered, and said:
Then Job answered, and said,
2 Hear, I beseech you, my words, and do penance.
Hear diligently my speech, And let this be your consolations.
3 Suffer me, and I will speak, and after, if you please, laugh at my words.
Allow me, and I also will speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.
4 Is my debate against man, that I should not have just reason to be troubled?
As for me, is my complaint to man? And why should I not be impatient?
5 Hearken to me and be astonished, and lay your finger on your mouth.
Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.
6 As for me, when I remember, I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
Even when I remember, I am troubled, and horror takes hold on my flesh.
7 Why then do the wicked live, are they advanced, and strengthened with riches?
Why do the wicked live, become old, yea, grow mighty in power?
8 Their seed continueth before them, a multitude of kinsmen, and of children’s children in their sight.
Their seed is established with them in their sight, and their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their houses are secure and peaceable, and the rod of God is not upon them.
Their houses are safe from fear, nor is the rod of God upon them.
10 Their cattle have conceived, and failed not: their cow has calved, and is not deprived of her fruit.
Their bull breeds, and does not fail. Their cow brings forth safely, and does not miscarry.
11 Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children dance and play.
They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
12 They take the timbrel, and the harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
They sing to the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
They spend their days in prosperity, and in a moment they go down to Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
14 Who have said to God: Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
And they say to God, Depart from us, for we do not desire the knowledge of thy ways.
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what doth it profit us if we pray to him?
What is the Almighty that we should serve him? And what profit should we have, if we pray to him?
16 Yet because their good things are not in their hand, may the counsel of the wicked be far from me.
Lo, is their prosperity not in their hand. (The counsel of the wicked is far from me.)
17 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?
How often is it that the lamp of the profane is put out, that their calamity comes upon them, that God distributes sorrows in his anger,
18 They shall be as chaff before the face of the wind, and as ashes which the whirlwind scattereth.
that they are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carries away?
19 God shall lay up the sorrow of the father for his children: and when he shall repay, then shall he know.
Ye say, God lays up his iniquity for his sons. Let him recompense it to himself that he may know it.
20 His eyes shall see his own destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
Let his own eyes see his destruction, and let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what is it to him what befalleth his house after him: and if the number of his months be diminished by one half?
For what does he care for his house after him when the number of his months is cut off?
22 Shall any one teach God knowledge, who judgeth those that are high?
Shall any teach God knowledge, seeing he judges those who are high?
23 One man dieth strong, and hale, rich and happy.
One man dies in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.
24 His bowels are full of fat, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
His pails are full of milk, and the marrow of his bones is moistened.
25 But another dieth in bitterness of soul without any riches:
And another man dies in bitterness of soul, and never tastes of good.
26 And yet they shall sleep together in the dust, and worms shall cover them.
They lie down alike in the dust, and the worm covers them.
27 Surely I know your thoughts, and your unjust judgments against me.
Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices with which ye would wrong me.
28 For you say: Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?
For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? And where is the tent in which the wicked dwelt?
29 Ask any one of them that go by the way, and you shall perceive that he knoweth these same things.
Have ye not asked wayfaring men? And do ye not know their evidences,
30 Because the wicked man is reserved to the day of destruction, and he shall be brought to the day of wrath.
that the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity? That they are led forth to the day of wrath?
31 Who shall reprove his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
Who shall declare his way to his face? And who shall repay him what he has done?
32 He shall be brought to the graves, and shall watch in the heap of the dead.
Yet he shall be borne to the grave, and men shall keep watch over the tomb.
33 He hath been acceptable to the gravel of Cocytus, and he shall draw every man after him, and there are innumerable before him.
The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him. And all men shall draw after him, as there were innumerable before him.
34 How then do ye comfort me in vain, whereas your answer is shewn to be repugnant to truth?
How then ye comfort me in vain, seeing in your answers there remains falsehood?
