Job 21
1 Then Job replied,
| ויען איוב ויאמר׃ |
2 “Listen to what I say, all [three] of you; that is the only thing that you can do that will comfort me.
| שמעו שמוע מלתי ותהי זאת תנחומתיכם׃ |
3 Be patient with me, and allow me to speak. Then, after I am finished speaking, you can continue to make fun of me.
| שאוני ואנכי אדבר ואחר דברי תלעיג׃ |
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!
| האנכי לאדם שיחי ואם מדוע לא תקצר רוחי׃ |
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]?
| פנו אלי והשמו ושימו יד על פה׃ |
6 When I think about [what has happened to me], I am frightened and my entire body shakes.
| ואם זכרתי ונבהלתי ואחז בשרי פלצות׃ |
7 “[But let me ask this: ] ‘Why do wicked people continue to live, and become prosperous, and not die until they are very old?’
| מדוע רשעים יחיו עתקו גם גברו חיל׃ |
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.
| זרעם נכון לפניהם עמם וצאצאיהם לעיניהם׃ |
9 Wicked people live in their own houses without being afraid, and God does not punish [MTY] them.
| בתיהם שלום מפחד ולא שבט אלוה עליהם׃ |
10 Their bulls always mate with the cows successfully, and the cows give birth to calves and never miscarry.
| שורו עבר ולא יגעל תפלט פרתו ולא תשכל׃ |
11 Wicked people send their young children outside [to play], and the children play [happily] like [SIM] lambs [in a pasture].
| ישלחו כצאן עויליהם וילדיהם ירקדון׃ |
12 Some children dance and sing, while others shake tambourines and play lyres, and they are happy when they hear people playing flutes.
| ישאו כתף וכנור וישמחו לקול עוגב׃ |
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)
| יבלו בטוב ימיהם וברגע שאול יחתו׃ (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!
| ויאמרו לאל סור ממנו ודעת דרכיך לא חפצנו׃ |
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]’
| מה שדי כי נעבדנו ומה נועיל כי נפגע בו׃ |
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.
| הן לא בידם טובם עצת רשעים רחקה מני׃ |
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]
| כמה נר רשעים ידעך ויבא עלימו אידם חבלים יחלק באפו׃ |
18 [He does not blow] them away like wind blows away straw; they are never carried off by a whirlwind.
| יהיו כתבן לפני רוח וכמץ גנבתו סופה׃ |
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].
| אלוה יצפן לבניו אונו ישלם אליו וידע׃ |
20 I hope/wish that wicked people will experience themselves being destroyed, that they will experience being punished by an angry Almighty God.
| יראו עינו כידו ומחמת שדי ישתה׃ |
21 After wicked people are dead, they are not at all concerned [RHQ] about what happens to their families [MTY].
| כי מה חפצו בביתו אחריו ומספר חדשיו חצצו׃ |
22 “Since God judges [everyone, ] even those that are in heaven, (who can teach God anything?/certainly no one can teach God anything.) [RHQ]
| הלאל ילמד דעת והוא רמים ישפוט׃ |
23 Some people die while they are very healthy, while they are peaceful, when they are not afraid of anything.
| זה ימות בעצם תמו כלו שלאנן ושליו׃ |
24 Their bodies are fat; their bones are strong.
| עטיניו מלאו חלב ומח עצמותיו ישקה׃ |
25 Other people die being very miserable; they have never experienced good things happening to them.
| וזה ימות בנפש מרה ולא אכל בטובה׃ |
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].
| יחד על עפר ישכבו ורמה תכסה עליהם׃ |
27 “Listen, I know what you [three] are thinking. I know the evil things that you plan to do to me.
| הן ידעתי מחשבותיכם ומזמות עלי תחמסו׃ |
28 You say, ‘What happened to the tents in which wicked people were living? The houses of evil rulers have been destroyed!’
| כי תאמרו איה בית נדיב ואיה אהל משכנות רשעים׃ |
29 But have you never inquired of people who travel much? Do you not believe their reports about what they have seen,
| הלא שאלתם עוברי דרך ואתתם לא תנכרו׃ |
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]?
| כי ליום איד יחשך רע ליום עברות יובלו׃ |
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.
| מי יגיד על פניו דרכו והוא עשה מי ישלם לו׃ |
32 The corpses of wicked people are carried to their graves, and people are put there to guard those graves.
| והוא לקברות יובל ועל גדיש ישקוד׃ |
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.
| מתקו לו רגבי נחל ואחריו כל אדם ימשוך ולפניו אין מספר׃ |
34 “So how can you console me by talking nonsense? Every reply that you make is full of lies!”
| ואיך תנחמוני הבל ותשובתיכם נשאר מעל׃ |
