Job 21
1 Then Job answered,
Then Job responded by saying:
2 "Listen diligently to my speech. Let this be your consolation.
I beseech you to hear my words and to do penance.
3 Allow me, and I also will speak; After I have spoken, mock on.
Permit me, and I will speak, and afterwards, if you see fit, you can laugh at my words.
4 As for me, is my complaint to man? Why shouldn't I be impatient?
Is my dispute against man, so that I would have no reason to be discouraged?
5 Look at me, and be astonished. Lay your hand on your mouth.
Listen to me and be astonished, and place a finger over your mouth.
6 When I remember, I am troubled. Horror takes hold of my flesh.
As for me, when I think it over, I am afraid, and trembling convulses my body.
7 "Why do the wicked live, become old, yes, and grow mighty in power?
Why then do the impious live, having been lifted up and strengthened with riches?
8 Their child is established with them in their sight, their offspring before their eyes.
They see their offspring continue before them: a commotion of close relatives and of children’s children in their sight.
9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.
Their houses have been secure and peaceable, and there is no staff of God over them.
10 Their bulls breed without fail. Their cows calve, and do not miscarry.
Their cattle have conceived and have not miscarried; their cow has given birth and is not deprived of her newborn.
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock. Their children dance.
Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children jump around playfully.
12 They sing to the tambourine and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
They take up the timbrel and the lyre, and they rejoice at the sound of the organ.
Their days are prolonged in wealth, yet, in an instant, they descend into hell. (Sheol h7585)
14 They tell God, 'Depart from us, for we do not want to know about your ways.
Who has said to God, “Depart from us, for we do not want the knowledge of your ways.
15 What is Shaddai, that we should serve him? What profit should we have, if we pray to him?'
Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? And how is it helpful to us if we pray to him?”
16 Look, their prosperity is not in their hand. The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
It is true that their good things are not in their power. May the counsel of the impious be far from me!
17 "How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out, that their calamity comes on them, that he distributes sorrows in his anger?
How often will the lamp of the wicked be extinguished, and a deluge overtake them, and how often will he distribute the afflictions of his wrath?
18 How often is it that they are as stubble before the wind, as chaff that the storm carries away?
They will be like chaff before the face of the wind, and like ashes that the whirlwind scatters.
19 You say, 'God lays up his iniquity for his children.' Let him recompense it to himself, that he may know it.
God will preserve the grief of the father for his sons, and, when he repays, then he will understand.
20 Let his own eyes see his destruction. Let him drink of the wrath of Shaddai.
His eyes will see his own destruction, and he will drink from the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what does he care for his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off?
For what does he care what happens to his house after him, or if the number of its months are reduced by half?
22 "Shall any teach God knowledge, seeing he judges those who are high?
Can anyone teach holy knowledge to God, who judges the exalted?
23 One dies in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.
This one dies strong and healthy, rich and happy.
24 His pails are full of milk. The marrow of his bones is moistened.
His gut is full of fat and his bones are moistened with marrow.
25 Another dies in bitterness of soul, and never tastes of good.
In truth, another dies in bitterness of soul, without any resources.
26 They lie down alike in the dust. The worm covers them.
And yet they will sleep together in the dust, and worms will cover them.
27 "Look, I know your thoughts, the devices with which you would wrong me.
Surely, I know your thoughts and your sinful judgments against me.
28 For you say, 'Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?'
For you say, “Where is the house of the ruler, and where are the tabernacles of the impious?”
29 Haven't you asked wayfaring men? Do you not know their evidences,
Ask any passerby whom you wish, and you will realize that he understands these same things:
30 that the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity, That they are led forth to the day of wrath?
that the evil-doer is reserved for the day of destruction, and he will be led to the day of wrath.
31 Who shall declare his way to his face? Who shall repay him what he has done?
Who will reprove his way to his face, and who will repay him for what he has done?
32 Yet he will be borne to the grave. Men shall keep watch over the tomb.
He will be led to the tomb, and he will remain awake in the chaos of the dead.
33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him. All men shall draw after him, as there were innumerable before him.
He has been found acceptable to the banks of the River of Lamentation, and he will draw any man towards him, and there are countless before him.
34 So how can you comfort me with nonsense, seeing that in your answers there remains only falsehood?"
Therefore, how long will you console me in vain, when your answer is shown to be repugnant to truth?
