Job 21
1 Then Job replied,
And Job answered and said,
2 “Listen to what I say, all [three] of you; that is the only thing that you can do that will comfort me.
Hear attentively my speech, and let this replace your consolations.
3 Be patient with me, and allow me to speak. Then, after I am finished speaking, you can continue to make fun of me.
Suffer me and I will speak; and after I have spoken, mock on!
4 “It is certainly not [RHQ] people against whom I am complaining, [but God] And it is certainly [RHQ] right for me to be impatient!
As for me, is my complaint to a man? or wherefore should not my spirit be impatient?
5 Look at me! Does what you see not cause you to be appalled and to put your hands over your mouths [and say no more]?
Mark me, and be astonished, and lay the hand upon the mouth.
6 When I think about [what has happened to me], I am frightened and my entire body shakes.
Even when I think [thereon], I am affrighted, and trembling taketh hold of my flesh.
7 “[But let me ask this: ] ‘Why do wicked people continue to live, and become prosperous, and not die until they are very old?’
Wherefore do the wicked live, grow old, yea, become mighty in power?
8 They have their children around them, and they watch them while they [grow up and] start to live in their own houses, and they enjoy their grandchildren.
Their seed is established with them in their sight, and their offspring before their eyes.
9 Wicked people live in their own houses without being afraid, and God does not punish [MTY] them.
Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.
10 Their bulls always mate with the cows successfully, and the cows give birth to calves and never miscarry.
Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
11 Wicked people send their young children outside [to play], and the children play [happily] like [SIM] lambs [in a pasture].
They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
12 Some children dance and sing, while others shake tambourines and play lyres, and they are happy when they hear people playing flutes.
They shout to the tambour and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
13 Wicked people enjoy having good things all the time that they are alive, and they die quietly/peacefully and go down to the place of the dead. (Sheol h7585)
They spend their days in prosperity, and in a moment go down to Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
14 While they are alive, they say to God, ‘Do not bother us; we do not want to know how you want us to conduct our lives!
And they say unto God, Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways!
15 Why do you, Almighty God, think that we should serve you? (What advantage do we get if we pray to you?/It is useless for us to pray to you.) [RHQ]’
What is the Almighty that we should serve him? and what are we profited if we pray unto him?
16 Think about it: Wicked people think that it is because of what they have done that they have become prosperous, but I do not understand why they think like that.
Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand. The counsel of the wicked be far from me!
17 (“How often does it happen that wicked people die [MET] before they are old?/Very seldom do wicked people die [MET] before they are old.) [RHQ] (Do they ever experience disasters?/They seldom experience disasters.) [RHQ] (Does God ever punish them because of being very angry with them?/God never punishes them because of being very angry with them.) [RHQ]
How often is the lamp of the wicked put out, and cometh their calamity upon them? Doth he distribute sorrows [to them] in his anger?
18 [He does not blow] them away like wind blows away straw; they are never carried off by a whirlwind.
Do they become as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away?
19 You say, ‘When people have committed sins, God waits and punishes their children because of those sins;’ but [I say that] God should punish those who sin, [not their children, ] in order that the sinners will know [that it is because of their own sins that they are being punished].
God layeth up [the punishment of] his iniquity for his children; he rewardeth him, and he shall know [it]:
20 I hope/wish that wicked people will experience themselves being destroyed, that they will experience being punished by an angry Almighty God.
His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the fury of the Almighty.
21 After wicked people are dead, they are not at all concerned [RHQ] about what happens to their families [MTY].
For what pleasure should he have in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off?
22 “Since God judges [everyone, ] even those that are in heaven, (who can teach God anything?/certainly no one can teach God anything.) [RHQ]
Can any teach God knowledge? And he it is that judgeth those that are high.
23 Some people die while they are very healthy, while they are peaceful, when they are not afraid of anything.
One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet;
24 Their bodies are fat; their bones are strong.
His sides are full of fat, and the marrow of his bones is moistened;
25 Other people die being very miserable; they have never experienced good things happening to them.
And another dieth in bitterness of soul, and hath not tasted good:
26 But both rich and poor people die and are buried, and maggots eat their bodies. [Everyone dies, so it is clear that dying is not always the punishment for being wicked].
Together they lie down in the dust, and the worms cover them.
27 “Listen, I know what you [three] are thinking. I know the evil things that you plan to do to me.
Lo, I know your thoughts, and the devices ye wrongfully imagine against me.
28 You say, ‘What happened to the tents in which wicked people were living? The houses of evil rulers have been destroyed!’
For ye say, Where is the house of the noble? and where the tent of the dwellings of the wicked?
29 But have you never inquired of people who travel much? Do you not believe their reports about what they have seen,
Have ye not asked the wayfarers? and do ye not regard their tokens:
30 that wicked people usually do not suffer at the time when there are great disasters; that wicked people are the ones who are rescued when God is angry [and punishes people] [MTY]?
That the wicked is reserved for the day of calamity? They are led forth to the day of wrath.
31 There is no one [RHQ] who accuses wicked people, and there is no one who (pays them back/gives them the punishment that they deserve) for all the evil things that they have done.
Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
32 The corpses of wicked people are carried to their graves, and people are put there to guard those graves.
Yet is he carried to the graves, and watch is kept over the tomb.
33 A huge number [HYP] of people go to the grave site. Some go in front of the procession and some come behind. And the clods of dirt thrown on the graves of those wicked people who have died are like a nice blanket.
The clods of the valley are sweet unto him; and every man followeth suit after him, as there were innumerable before him.
34 “So how can you console me by talking nonsense? Every reply that you make is full of lies!”
How then comfort ye me in vain? Your answers remain perfidious.
