Job 21

1 Then Job answered:

1 But Job answered and said,

2 “Listen carefully to my words; let this be your consolation to me.

2 Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations.

3 Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.

3 Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on.

4 Is my complaint against a man? Then why should I not be impatient?

4 As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?

5 Look at me and be appalled; put your hand over your mouth.

5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.

6 When I remember, terror takes hold, and my body trembles in horror.

6 Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.

7 Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?

7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?

8 Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes.

8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.

9 Their homes are safe from fear; no rod of punishment from God is upon them.

9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.

10 Their bulls breed without fail; their cows bear calves and do not miscarry.

10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.

11 They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about,

11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.

12 singing to the tambourine and lyre and making merry at the sound of the flute.

12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.

13 They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace.

13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.

14 Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways.

14 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.

15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’

15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?

16 Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.

16 Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

17 How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come upon them? Does God, in His anger, apportion destruction?

17 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.

18 Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?

18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.

19 It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children. Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it.

19 God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.

20 Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.

20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

21 For what does he care about his household after him, when the number of his months has run out?

21 For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?

22 Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since He judges those on high?

22 Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.

23 One man dies full of vigor, completely secure and at ease.

23 One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.

24 His body is well nourished, and his bones are rich with marrow.

24 His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.

25 Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, having never tasted prosperity.

25 And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.

26 But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both.

26 They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.

27 Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me.

27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.

28 For you say, ‘Where now is the nobleman’s house, and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell?’

28 For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?

29 Have you never asked those who travel the roads? Do you not accept their reports?

29 Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens,

30 Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath.

30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.

31 Who denounces his behavior to his face? Who repays him for what he has done?

31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?

32 He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb.

32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.

33 The clods of the valley are sweet to him; everyone follows behind him, and those before him are without number.

33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.

34 So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood.”

34 How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?