Job 21
1 Job replied,
Then Job answered:
2 “Please listen carefully to what I say—that would be one comfort you could give me.
“Listen carefully to my words; let this be your consolation to me.
3 Bear with me; let me speak. After I've spoken you can resume mocking me.
Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.
4 Am I complaining against people? Of course not. Why shouldn't I be impatient?
Is my complaint against a man? Then why should I not be impatient?
5 Just take a look at me. Aren't you appalled? Cover your mouth with your hand in shock!
Look at me and be appalled; put your hand over your mouth.
6 Every time I think of what's happened to me I am horrified and I shake all over with fear.
When I remember, terror takes hold, and my body trembles in horror.
7 Why do the wicked continue to live, to grow old and increasingly powerful?
Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
8 Their children are with them; they watch their grandchildren grow up.
Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes.
9 They live in their homes in safety—they are not afraid. God does not use his rod to beat them.
Their homes are safe from fear; no rod of punishment from God is upon them.
10 Their bulls always breed successfully; their cows give birth to calves and do not miscarry.
Their bulls breed without fail; their cows bear calves and do not miscarry.
11 They send out their little ones like lambs to play; their children dance around.
They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about,
12 They sing accompanied by the tambourine and lyre; they celebrate with the music of the flute.
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 Yet they tell God, ‘Get lost! We don't want anything to do with you.
Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways.
15 Who does the Almighty think he is for us to serve him as slaves? What benefit is there for us if we pray to him?’
Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’
16 Such people believe they make their own fortune, but I don't accept their way of thinking.
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 snuffed out? How often does disaster come upon them? How often does God punish the wicked 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 Are they blown along like straw in the wind? Does a tornado come in and carry them away?
Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?
19 Some say, ‘God saves up people's punishment for their children.’ But I say, ‘God should punish those people themselves so that they can learn from 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 Let them see their destruction themselves, and drink deeply from God's anger.
Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For they don't care what happens to their families once they're dead.
For what does he care about his household after him, when the number of his months has run out?
22 Can anyone teach God anything he doesn't already know, since he is the one who judges even heavenly beings?
Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since He judges those on high?
23 One person dies in good health, totally comfortable and secure.
One man dies full of vigor, completely secure and at ease.
24 Their body is fat from eating well; their bones still strong.
His body is well nourished, and his bones are rich with marrow.
25 Another dies after a miserable life without every experiencing happiness.
Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, having never tasted prosperity.
26 Yet they are both buried in the same dust; they are treated alike in death, eaten by maggots.
But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both.
27 Look, I know what you're thinking, and your schemes to do me wrong.
Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me.
28 You may ask me, ‘Where is the home of the great man? Where is the place where the wicked live?’
For you say, ‘Where now is the nobleman’s house, and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell?’
29 Haven't you asked people who travel? Don't you pay attention to what they tell you?
Have you never asked those who travel the roads? Do you not accept their reports?
30 Wicked people are spared in times of disaster; they are rescued from the day of judgment.
Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath.
31 Who confronts them with their actions? Who pays them back for what they have done?
Who denounces his behavior to his face? Who repays him for what he has done?
32 When they eventually die and are carried to the graveyard, their tomb is guarded. The earth of the grave softly covers them.
He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb.
33 Everyone attends their funeral service; a huge procession of people comes to pay their last respects.
The clods of the valley are sweet to him; everyone follows behind him, and those before him are without number.
34 Why do you try to comfort me with worthless nonsense? Your answers are just a pack of lies!”
So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood.”
