Job 21
1 But Job answered and said,
Then Job replied,
2 Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations.
“Listen to what I say, all [three] of you; that is the only thing that you can do that will comfort me.
3 Bear with me that I may speak; and after I have spoken, mock on.
Be patient with me, and allow me to speak. Then, after I am finished speaking, you can continue to make fun of me.
4 As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?
“It is certainly not [RHQ] people against whom I am complaining, [but God] And it is certainly [RHQ] right for me to be impatient!
5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.
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]?
6 Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
When I think about [what has happened to me], I am frightened and my entire body shakes.
7 Why do the wicked live, become old, and, are mighty in power?
“[But let me ask this: ] ‘Why do wicked people continue to live, and become prosperous, and not die until they are very old?’
8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.
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.
9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.
Wicked people live in their own houses without being afraid, and God does not punish [MTY] them.
10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
Their bulls always mate with the cows successfully, and the cows give birth to calves and never miscarry.
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
Wicked people send their young children outside [to play], and the children play [happily] like [SIM] lambs [in a pasture].
12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the flute.
Some children dance and sing, while others shake tambourines and play lyres, and they are happy when they hear people playing flutes.
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)
14 Therefore they say to God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
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!
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray to him?
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]’
16 Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
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.
17 How oft is the lamp of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.
(“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]
18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
[He does not blow] them away like wind blows away straw; they are never carried off by a whirlwind.
19 God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.
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].
20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
I hope/wish that wicked people will experience themselves being destroyed, that they will experience being punished by an angry Almighty God.
21 For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?
After wicked people are dead, they are not at all concerned [RHQ] about what happens to their families [MTY].
22 Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.
“Since God judges [everyone, ] even those that are in heaven, (who can teach God anything?/certainly no one can teach God anything.) [RHQ]
23 One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.
Some people die while they are very healthy, while they are peaceful, when they are not afraid of anything.
24 His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
Their bodies are fat; their bones are strong.
25 And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.
Other people die being very miserable; they have never experienced good things happening to them.
26 They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.
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].
27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.
“Listen, I know what you [three] are thinking. I know the evil things that you plan to do to me.
28 For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?
You say, ‘What happened to the tents in which wicked people were living? The houses of evil rulers have been destroyed!’
29 Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their signs,
But have you never inquired of people who travel much? Do you not believe their reports about what they have seen,
30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.
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]?
31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
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.
32 Yet he shall be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.
The corpses of wicked people are carried to their graves, and people are put there to guard those graves.
33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.
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.
34 How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?
“So how can you console me by talking nonsense? Every reply that you make is full of lies!”
