Job 21
1 Then responded Job, and said: —
And Job answers and says:
2 Hear ye patiently my words, and let this be your consolation:
“Hear my word diligently, And this is your consolation.
3 Suffer me, that, I, may speak, and, after I have spoken, thou canst mock!
Bear with me, and I speak, And after my speaking—you may deride.
4 Did, I, unto man, make my complaint? Wherefore, then, should my spirit not be impatient?
[Is] my complaint [against] man? And if [so], why may my temper not become short?
5 Turn round to me, and be astonished, and lay hand on mouth!
Turn to me, and be astonished, And put hand to mouth.
6 When I call to mind, then am I dismayed, and there seizeth my flesh a shuddering: —
Indeed, if I have remembered, then I have been troubled. And my flesh has taken fright.
7 Wherefore do, lawless men, live, advance in years, even wax mighty in power?
Why do the wicked live? They have become old, Indeed, they have been mighty in wealth.
8 Their seed, is established in their sight, along with them, yea their offspring, before their eyes;
Their seed is established, Before their face with them, And their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their houses, are at peace, without dread, neither is, the rod of GOD, upon them;
Their houses [are] peace without fear, Nor [is] a rod of God on them.
10 His bull, covereth, and causeth not aversion, His cow safely calveth, and casteth not her young;
His bullock breeds without fail. His cow brings forth safely, and does not miscarry.
11 They send forth—like a flock—their young ones, and, their children, skip about for joy;
They send forth their sucklings as a flock, And their children skip,
12 They rejoice aloud as [with] timbrel and lyre, and make merry to the sound of the pipe;
They lift [themselves] up at timbrel and harp, And rejoice at the sound of a pipe.
13 They complete, in prosperity, their days, and, in a moment to hades, they sink down. (Sheol h7585)
They wear out their days in good, And in a moment go down [to] Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
14 Yet they said unto GOD, Depart from us, and, In the knowledge of thy ways, find we no pleasure.
And they say to God, Turn aside from us, And the knowledge of Your ways We have not desired.
15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? Or what shall we profit, that we should urge him?
What [is] the Mighty One that we serve Him? And what do we profit when we meet with Him?
16 Lo! not in their own hand, is their welfare, The counsel of lawless men, is far from me!
Behold, their good [is] not in their hand (The counsel of the wicked Has been far from me).
17 How oft, the lamp of the lawless, goeth out, and their calamity, cometh upon them, Sorrows, apportioneth he in his anger;
How often is the lamp of the wicked extinguished, And their calamity comes on them? He apportions pangs in His anger.
18 They become as straw before the wind, and as chaff, which the storm stealeth away.
They are as straw before wind, And as chaff a windstorm has stolen away,
19 Shall, GOD, reserve, for his children, his sorrow? Let him recompense him so that he may know it;
God lays up for his sons his sorrow, He gives repayment to him—and he knows.
20 His own eyes, shall see his misfortune, and, the wrath of the Almighty, shall he drink.
His own eyes see his destruction, And he drinks of the wrath of the Mighty.
21 For what shall be his pleasure in his house after him, when, the number of his months, is cut in twain?
For what [is] his delight in his house after him, And the number of his months cut off?
22 Is it, to GOD, one can teach knowledge, seeing that, he, shall judge, them who are on high?
Does [one] teach knowledge to God, Since He judges [those] on high?
23 This, man dieth, in the very perfection of his prosperity, wholly tranquil and secure;
This [one] dies in his perfect strength, Wholly at ease and quiet.
24 His veins, are filled with nourishment, and, the marrow of his bones, is fresh;
His breasts have been full of milk, And marrow moistens his bones.
25 Whereas, this other man, dieth, in bitterness of soul, and hath never tasted good fortune:
And this [one] dies with a bitter soul, And has not eaten with gladness.
26 Together, in the dust, they lie down, and, the worm, spreadeth a covering over them.
Together they lie down on the dust, And the worm covers them over.
27 Lo! I know your plans, and the devices, wherewith ye would do me violence!
Behold, I have known your thoughts, And the schemes against me you do wrongfully.
28 For ye say, Where is the house of the noble-minded? And where the dwelling-tent of the lawless?
For you say, Where [is] the house of the noble? And where the tent—the dwelling places of the wicked?
29 Have ye not asked the passers-by in the way? And, their signs, can ye not recognise?
Have you not asked those passing by the way? And do you not know their signs?
30 That, to the day of calamity, is the wicked reserved, to the day of indignant visitation, are they led.
That the wicked is spared to a day of calamity. They are brought to a day of wrath.
31 Who can declare—to his face—his way? And, what, he, hath done, who shall recompense to him?
Who declares his way to his face? And [for] that which he has done, Who gives repayment to him?
32 Yet, he, to the graves, is borne, and, over the tomb, one keepeth watch;
And he is brought to the graves, And a watch is kept over the heap.
33 Pleasant to him are the mounds of the torrent-bed, —and, after him, doth every man march, as, before him, there were without number.
The clods of the valley have been sweet to him, And he draws every man after him, And there is no numbering before him.
34 How then should ye comfort me with vanity, since, as for your replies, there lurketh, [in them] treachery?
And how do you comfort me [with] vanity, And trespass has been left in your answers?”
