Job 21
- 1 And Job answereth and saith: —
- 2 Hear ye diligently my word, And this is your consolation.
- 3 Bear with me, and I speak, And after my speaking — ye may deride.
- 4 I — to man [is] my complaint? and if [so], wherefore May not my temper become short?
- 5 Turn unto me, and be astonished, And put hand to mouth.
- 6 Yea, if I have remembered, then I have been troubled. And my flesh hath taken fright.
- 7 Wherefore do the wicked live? They have become old, Yea, they have been mighty in wealth.
- 8 Their seed is established, Before their face with them, And their offspring before their eyes.
- 9 Their houses [are] peace without fear, Nor [is] a rod of God upon them.
- 10 His bullock hath eaten corn, and doth not loath. His cow bringeth forth safely, And doth not miscarry.
- 11 They send forth as a flock their sucklings, And their children skip,
- 12 They lift [themselves] up at timbrel and harp, And rejoice at the sound of an organ.
- 13 They wear out in good their days, And in a moment [to] Sheol go down.
- 14 And they say to God, 'Turn aside from us, And the knowledge of Thy ways We have not desired.
- 15 What [is] the Mighty One that we serve Him? And what do we profit when we meet with Him?'
- 16 Lo, not in their hand [is] their good, (The counsel of the wicked Hath been far from me.)
- 17 How oft is the lamp of the wicked extinguished, And come on them doth their calamity? Pangs He apportioneth in His anger.
- 18 They are as straw before wind, And as chaff a hurricane hath stolen away,
- 19 God layeth up for his sons his sorrow, He giveth recompense unto him — and he knoweth.
- 20 His own eyes see his destruction, And of the wrath of the Mighty he drinketh.
- 21 For what [is] his delight in his house after him, And the number of his months cut off?
- 22 To God doth [one] teach knowledge, And He the high doth judge?
- 23 This [one] dieth in his perfect strength, Wholly at ease and quiet.
- 24 His breasts have been full of milk, And marrow his bones doth moisten.
- 25 And this [one] dieth with a bitter soul, And have not eaten with gladness.
- 26 Together — on the dust they lie down, And the worm doth cover them over.
- 27 Lo, I have known your thoughts, And the devices against me ye do wrongfully.
- 28 For ye say, 'Where [is] the house of the noble? And where the tent — The tabernacles of the wicked?'
- 29 Have ye not asked those passing by the way? And their signs do ye not know?
- 30 That to a day of calamity is the wicked spared. To a day of wrath they are brought.
- 31 Who doth declare to his face his way? And [for] that which he hath done, Who doth give recompence to him?
- 32 And he — to the graves he is brought. And over the heap a watch is kept.
- 33 Sweet to him have been the clods of the valley, And after him every man he draweth, And before him there is no numbering.
- 34 And how do ye comfort me [with] vanity, And in your answers hath been left trespass?