Job 21
1 Then responded Job, and said: —
Then Job answered and said,
2 Hear ye patiently my words, and let this be your consolation:
“Listen carefully to my words, and let this be the comfort you offer to me.
3 Suffer me, that, I, may speak, and, after I have spoken, thou canst mock!
Put up with me, and I also will speak; after I have spoken, mock on.
4 Did, I, unto man, make my complaint? Wherefore, then, should my spirit not be impatient?
As for me, is my complaint to a person? Why should I not be impatient?
5 Turn round to me, and be astonished, and lay hand on mouth!
Look at me and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.
6 When I call to mind, then am I dismayed, and there seizeth my flesh a shuddering: —
When I think about my sufferings, I am terrified, and trembling seizes my body.
7 Wherefore do, lawless men, live, advance in years, even wax mighty in power?
Why do wicked people continue to live, become old, and grow mighty in power?
8 Their seed, is established in their sight, along with them, yea their offspring, before their eyes;
Their descendants are established with them in their sight, and their offspring are established before their eyes.
9 Their houses, are at peace, without dread, neither is, the rod of GOD, upon them;
Their houses are safe from fear; neither is the rod of God on them.
10 His bull, covereth, and causeth not aversion, His cow safely calveth, and casteth not her young;
Their bull breeds; it does not fail to do so; their cow gives birth and does not lose her calf prematurely.
11 They send forth—like a flock—their young ones, and, their children, skip about for joy;
They send out their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
12 They rejoice aloud as [with] timbrel and lyre, and make merry to the sound of the pipe;
They sing to the tambourine and harp and rejoice with the music of the flute.
13 They complete, in prosperity, their days, and, in a moment to hades, they sink down. (Sheol h7585)
They spend their days in prosperity, and they go down quietly to Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
14 Yet they said unto GOD, Depart from us, and, In the knowledge of thy ways, find we no pleasure.
They say to God, 'Depart from us for we do not wish any knowledge of your ways.
15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? Or what shall we profit, that we should urge him?
What is the Almighty, that we should worship him? What advantage would we get if we prayed to him?'
16 Lo! not in their own hand, is their welfare, The counsel of lawless men, is far from me!
See, is not their prosperity in their own hands? I have nothing to do with the advice of wicked people.
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 it that the lamp of wicked people is put out, or that their calamity comes upon them? How often does it happen that God distributes sorrows to them in his anger?
18 They become as straw before the wind, and as chaff, which the storm stealeth away.
How often is it that they become like stubble before the wind or like chaff that the storm carries away?
19 Shall, GOD, reserve, for his children, his sorrow? Let him recompense him so that he may know it;
You say, 'God lays up one's guilt for his children to pay.' Let him pay it himself, so that he might know his guilt.
20 His own eyes, shall see his misfortune, and, the wrath of the Almighty, shall he drink.
Let his eyes see his own destruction, and let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what shall be his pleasure in his house after him, when, the number of his months, is cut in twain?
For what does he care about his family after him when the number of his months is cut off?
22 Is it, to GOD, one can teach knowledge, seeing that, he, shall judge, them who are on high?
Can anyone teach God knowledge since he judges even those who are high?
23 This, man dieth, in the very perfection of his prosperity, wholly tranquil and secure;
One man dies in his full strength, being completely quiet and at ease.
24 His veins, are filled with nourishment, and, the marrow of his bones, is fresh;
His body is full of milk, and the marrow of his bones is moist.
25 Whereas, this other man, dieth, in bitterness of soul, and hath never tasted good fortune:
Another man dies in bitterness of soul, one who has never experienced anything good.
26 Together, in the dust, they lie down, and, the worm, spreadeth a covering over them.
They lie down alike in the dust; the worms cover them both.
27 Lo! I know your plans, and the devices, wherewith ye would do me violence!
See, I know your thoughts, and the ways in which you wish to wrong me.
28 For ye say, Where is the house of the noble-minded? And where the dwelling-tent of the lawless?
For you say, 'Where now is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked man once lived?'
29 Have ye not asked the passers-by in the way? And, their signs, can ye not recognise?
Have you never asked traveling people? Do you not know the evidence they can tell,
30 That, to the day of calamity, is the wicked reserved, to the day of indignant visitation, are they led.
that the wicked man is kept from the day of calamity, and that he is led away from the day of wrath?
31 Who can declare—to his face—his way? And, what, he, hath done, who shall recompense to him?
Who will condemn the wicked man's way to his face? Who will repay him for what he has done?
32 Yet, he, to the graves, is borne, and, over the tomb, one keepeth watch;
Yet he will be borne to the grave; men will keep watch over his tomb.
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 will be sweet to him; all people will follow after him, as there were innumerable people before him.
34 How then should ye comfort me with vanity, since, as for your replies, there lurketh, [in them] treachery?
How then do you comfort me with nonsense, since in your answers there is nothing but falsehood?”
