Job 21
1 But Job answered and said,
Then responded Job, and said: —
2 Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations.
Hear ye patiently my words, and let this be your consolation:
3 Suffer me that I may speak; and after that 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 man? and if [it were so], why should not my spirit be troubled?
Did, I, unto man, make my complaint? Wherefore, then, should my spirit not be impatient?
5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay [your] hand upon [your] mouth.
Turn round to me, and be astonished, and lay hand on mouth!
6 Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
When I call to mind, then am I dismayed, and there seizeth my flesh a shuddering: —
7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?
Wherefore do, lawless men, live, advance in years, even wax mighty in power?
8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, 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 take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
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 Therefore 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 profit should we have, 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 Lo, their good [is] not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
Lo! not in their own hand, is their welfare, The counsel of lawless men, is far from me!
17 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and [how oft] cometh their destruction upon them! [God] distributeth sorrows 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 They are 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 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 wrath of the Almighty.
His own eyes, shall see his misfortune, and, the wrath of the Almighty, shall he drink.
21 For what pleasure [hath] he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?
For what shall be his pleasure in his house after him, when, the number of his months, is cut in twain?
22 Shall [any] teach God knowledge? seeing he 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 breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
His veins, are filled with nourishment, and, the marrow of his bones, is fresh;
25 And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.
Whereas, this other man, dieth, in bitterness of soul, and hath never tasted good fortune:
26 They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.
Together, in the dust, they lie down, and, the worm, spreadeth a covering over them.
27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices [which] 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 prince? and where [are] the dwelling places 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 them that go by the way? and do ye not know 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 to the day of destruction? they shall be brought 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 shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.
Yet, he, to the graves, is borne, and, over the tomb, one keepeth watch;
33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as [there are] 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, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?
How then should ye comfort me with vanity, since, as for your replies, there lurketh, [in them] treachery?
