Job 21
1 Bvt Iob answered, and sayd,
Then Job answered:
2 Heare diligently my wordes, and this shalbe in stead of your consolations.
“Listen carefully to my words; let this be your consolation to me.
3 Suffer mee, that I may speake, and when I haue spoken, mocke on.
Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.
4 Doe I direct my talke to man? If it were so, how should not my spirit be troubled?
Is my complaint against a man? Then why should I not be impatient?
5 Marke mee, and be abashed, and lay your hand vpon your mouth.
Look at me and be appalled; put your hand over your mouth.
6 Euen when I remember, I am afrayde, and feare taketh hold on my flesh.
When I remember, terror takes hold, and my body trembles in horror.
7 Wherefore do the wicked liue, and waxe olde, and grow in wealth?
Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
8 Their seede is established in their sight with them, and their generation before their eyes.
Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their houses are peaceable without feare, and the rod of God is not vpon them.
Their homes are safe from fear; no rod of punishment from God is upon them.
10 Their bullocke gendreth, and fayleth not: their cow calueth, and casteth not her calfe.
Their bulls breed without fail; their cows bear calves and do not miscarry.
11 They send forth their children like sheepe, and their sonnes dance.
They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about,
12 They take the tabret and harpe, and reioyce in the sound of the organs.
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 They say also vnto God, Depart from vs: for we desire not the knowledge of thy wayes.
Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways.
15 Who is the Almightie, that we should serue him? and what profit should we haue, if we should pray vnto him?
Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’
16 Lo, their wealth is not in their hand: therfore let the counsell of the wicked bee farre from me.
Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.
17 How oft shall the candle of the wicked be put out? and their destruction come vpon them? he wil deuide their liues in his wrath.
How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come upon them? Does God, in His anger, apportion destruction?
18 They shall be as stubble before the winde, and as chaffe that the storme carieth away.
Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?
19 God wil lay vp the sorowe of the father for his children: when he rewardeth him, hee shall knowe 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 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drinke of the wrath of the Almightie.
Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the nomber of his moneths is cut off?
For what does he care about his household after him, when the number of his months has run out?
22 Shall any teache God knowledge, who iudgeth the highest things?
Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since He judges those on high?
23 One dyeth in his full strength, being in all ease and prosperitie.
One man dies full of vigor, completely secure and at ease.
24 His breasts are full of milke, and his bones runne full of marowe.
His body is well nourished, and his bones are rich with marrow.
25 And another dieth in the bitternes of his soule, and neuer eateth with pleasure.
Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, having never tasted prosperity.
26 They shall sleepe both in the dust, and the wormes shall couer them.
But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both.
27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the enterprises, wherewith ye do me wrong.
Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me.
28 For ye say, Where is the princes house? and where is the tabernacle of the wickeds dwelling?
For you say, ‘Where now is the nobleman’s house, and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell?’
29 May ye not aske the that go by the way? and ye can not deny their signes.
Have you never asked those who travel the roads? Do you not accept their reports?
30 But the wicked is kept vnto the day of destruction, and they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.
Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath.
31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall reward him for that he hath done?
Who denounces his behavior to his face? Who repays him for what he has done?
32 Yet shall he be brought to the graue, and remaine in the heape.
He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb.
33 The slimie valley shalbe sweete vnto him, and euery man shall draw after him, as before him there were innumerable.
The clods of the valley are sweet to him; everyone follows behind him, and those before him are without number.
34 How then comfort ye me in vaine, seeing in your answeres there remaine but lyes?
So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood.”
