Job 21
1 Then Job replied,
And Job answers and says:
2 “Listen to what I say, all [three] of you; that is the only thing that you can do that will comfort me.
“Hear my word diligently, And this is your consolation.
3 Be patient with me, and allow me to speak. Then, after I am finished speaking, you can continue to make fun of me.
Bear with me, and I speak, And after my speaking—you may deride.
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!
[Is] my complaint [against] man? And if [so], why may my temper not become short?
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]?
Turn to me, and be astonished, And put hand to mouth.
6 When I think about [what has happened to me], I am frightened and my entire body shakes.
Indeed, if I have remembered, then I have been troubled. And my flesh has taken fright.
7 “[But let me ask this: ] ‘Why do wicked people continue to live, and become prosperous, and not die until they are very old?’
Why do the wicked live? They have become old, Indeed, they have been mighty in wealth.
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, Before their face with them, 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] peace without fear, Nor [is] a rod of God on them.
10 Their bulls always mate with the cows successfully, and the cows give birth to calves and never miscarry.
His bullock breeds without fail. His cow brings forth safely, and does not miscarry.
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 sucklings as a flock, And their children skip,
12 Some children dance and sing, while others shake tambourines and play lyres, and they are happy when they hear people playing flutes.
They lift [themselves] up at timbrel and harp, And rejoice at the sound of a 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 wear out their days in good, 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 to God, Turn aside from us, And the knowledge of Your ways We have not desired.
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 Mighty One that we serve Him? And what do we profit when we meet with 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 good [is] not in their hand (The counsel of the wicked Has been 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 extinguished, And their calamity comes on them? He apportions pangs in His anger.
18 [He does not blow] them away like wind blows away straw; they are never carried off by a whirlwind.
They are as straw before wind, And as chaff a windstorm has stolen 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 lays up for his sons his sorrow, He gives repayment to him—and he knows.
20 I hope/wish that wicked people will experience themselves being destroyed, that they will experience being punished by an angry Almighty God.
His own eyes see his destruction, And he drinks of the wrath of the Mighty.
21 After wicked people are dead, they are not at all concerned [RHQ] about what happens to their families [MTY].
For what [is] his delight in his house after him, And the number of his months 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]
Does [one] teach knowledge to God, Since He judges [those] on high?
23 Some people die while they are very healthy, while they are peaceful, when they are not afraid of anything.
This [one] dies in his perfect strength, Wholly at ease and quiet.
24 Their bodies are fat; their bones are strong.
His breasts have been full of milk, And marrow moistens his bones.
25 Other people die being very miserable; they have never experienced good things happening to them.
And this [one] dies with a bitter soul, And has not eaten with gladness.
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 on the dust, And the worm covers them over.
27 “Listen, I know what you [three] are thinking. I know the evil things that you plan to do to me.
Behold, I have known your thoughts, And the schemes against me you do wrongfully.
28 You say, ‘What happened to the tents in which wicked people were living? The houses of evil rulers have been destroyed!’
For you say, Where [is] the house of the noble? And where the tent—the dwelling places 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 you not asked those passing by the way? And do you not know their signs?
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 spared to a day of calamity. They are brought to a 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 declares his way to his face? And [for] that which he has done, Who gives repayment to him?
32 The corpses of wicked people are carried to their graves, and people are put there to guard those graves.
And he is brought to the graves, And a watch is kept over the heap.
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 have been sweet to him, And he draws every man after him, And there is no numbering before him.
34 “So how can you console me by talking nonsense? Every reply that you make is full of lies!”
And how do you comfort me [with] vanity, And trespass has been left in your answers?”
