Job 21
1 Then Job answered, and said:
Then Job replied,
2 Hear, I beseech you, my words, and do penance.
“Listen to what I say, all [three] of you; that is the only thing that you can do that will comfort me.
3 Suffer me, and I will speak, and after, if you please, laugh at my words.
Be patient with me, and allow me to speak. Then, after I am finished speaking, you can continue to make fun of me.
4 Is my debate against man, that I should not have just reason to be troubled?
“It is certainly not [RHQ] people against whom I am complaining, [but God] And it is certainly [RHQ] right for me to be impatient!
5 Hearken to me and be astonished, and lay your finger on your mouth.
Look at me! Does what you see not cause you to be appalled and to put your hands over your mouths [and say no more]?
6 As for me, when I remember, I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
When I think about [what has happened to me], I am frightened and my entire body shakes.
7 Why then do the wicked live, are they advanced, and strengthened with riches?
“[But let me ask this: ] ‘Why do wicked people continue to live, and become prosperous, and not die until they are very old?’
8 Their seed continueth before them, a multitude of kinsmen, and of children’s children in their sight.
They have their children around them, and they watch them while they [grow up and] start to live in their own houses, and they enjoy their grandchildren.
9 Their houses are secure and peaceable, and the rod of God is not upon them.
Wicked people live in their own houses without being afraid, and God does not punish [MTY] them.
10 Their cattle have conceived, and failed not: their cow has calved, and is not deprived of her fruit.
Their bulls always mate with the cows successfully, and the cows give birth to calves and never miscarry.
11 Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children dance and play.
Wicked people send their young children outside [to play], and the children play [happily] like [SIM] lambs [in a pasture].
12 They take the timbrel, and the harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
Some children dance and sing, while others shake tambourines and play lyres, and they are happy when they hear people playing flutes.
Wicked people enjoy having good things all the time that they are alive, and they die quietly/peacefully and go down to the place of the dead. (Sheol h7585)
14 Who have said to God: Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
While they are alive, they say to God, ‘Do not bother us; we do not want to know how you want us to conduct our lives!
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what doth it profit us if we pray to him?
Why do you, Almighty God, think that we should serve you? (What advantage do we get if we pray to you?/It is useless for us to pray to you.) [RHQ]’
16 Yet because their good things are not in their hand, may the counsel of the wicked be far from me.
Think about it: Wicked people think that it is because of what they have done that they have become prosperous, but I do not understand why they think like that.
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 does it happen that wicked people die [MET] before they are old?/Very seldom do wicked people die [MET] before they are old.) [RHQ] (Do they ever experience disasters?/They seldom experience disasters.) [RHQ] (Does God ever punish them because of being very angry with them?/God never punishes them because of being very angry with them.) [RHQ]
18 They shall be as chaff before the face of the wind, and as ashes which the whirlwind scattereth.
[He does not blow] them away like wind blows away straw; they are never carried off by a whirlwind.
19 God shall lay up the sorrow of the father for his children: and when he shall repay, then shall he know.
You say, ‘When people have committed sins, God waits and punishes their children because of those sins;’ but [I say that] God should punish those who sin, [not their children, ] in order that the sinners will know [that it is because of their own sins that they are being punished].
20 His eyes shall see his own destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
I hope/wish that wicked people will experience themselves being destroyed, that they will experience being punished by an angry Almighty God.
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?
After wicked people are dead, they are not at all concerned [RHQ] about what happens to their families [MTY].
22 Shall any one teach God knowledge, who judgeth those that are high?
“Since God judges [everyone, ] even those that are in heaven, (who can teach God anything?/certainly no one can teach God anything.) [RHQ]
23 One man dieth strong, and hale, rich and happy.
Some people die while they are very healthy, while they are peaceful, when they are not afraid of anything.
24 His bowels are full of fat, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
Their bodies are fat; their bones are strong.
25 But another dieth in bitterness of soul without any riches:
Other people die being very miserable; they have never experienced good things happening to them.
26 And yet they shall sleep together in the dust, and worms shall cover them.
But both rich and poor people die and are buried, and maggots eat their bodies. [Everyone dies, so it is clear that dying is not always the punishment for being wicked].
27 Surely I know your thoughts, and your unjust judgments against me.
“Listen, I know what you [three] are thinking. I know the evil things that you plan to do to me.
28 For you say: Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?
You say, ‘What happened to the tents in which wicked people were living? The houses of evil rulers have been destroyed!’
29 Ask any one of them that go by the way, and you shall perceive that he knoweth these same things.
But have you never inquired of people who travel much? Do you not believe their reports about what they have seen,
30 Because the wicked man is reserved to the day of destruction, and he shall be brought to the day of wrath.
that wicked people usually do not suffer at the time when there are great disasters; that wicked people are the ones who are rescued when God is angry [and punishes people] [MTY]?
31 Who shall reprove his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
There is no one [RHQ] who accuses wicked people, and there is no one who (pays them back/gives them the punishment that they deserve) for all the evil things that they have done.
32 He shall be brought to the graves, and shall watch in the heap of the dead.
The corpses of wicked people are carried to their graves, and people are put there to guard those graves.
33 He hath been acceptable to the gravel of Cocytus, and he shall draw every man after him, and there are innumerable before him.
A huge number [HYP] of people go to the grave site. Some go in front of the procession and some come behind. And the clods of dirt thrown on the graves of those wicked people who have died are like a nice blanket.
34 How then do ye comfort me in vain, whereas your answer is shewn to be repugnant to truth?
“So how can you console me by talking nonsense? Every reply that you make is full of lies!”
