21
Job Says God Will Deal with the Wicked
2 “Listen carefully to my speech,
And let this be your way of consolation.
3 “Bear with me that I may speak;
Then after I have spoken, you may
Amock.
4 “As for me, is
Amy complaint
1to man?
And
Bwhy should
2I not be impatient?
5 “Look at me, and be astonished,
And
Aput
your hand over
your mouth.
6 “Even when I remember, I am disturbed,
And
Ahorror takes hold of my flesh.
7 “Why
Ado the wicked
still live,
Continue on, also become very
Bpowerful?
8 “Their
1Adescendants are established with them in their sight,
And their offspring before their eyes,
9 Their houses
Aare safe from fear,
And the rod of God is not on them.
10 “His ox mates
1without fail;
His cow calves and does not abort.
11 “They send forth their little ones like the flock,
And their children skip about.
12 “They
1sing to the timbrel and harp
And rejoice at the sound of the flute.
13 “They
Aspend their days in prosperity,
And
1suddenly they go down to
2Sheol.
14 “They say to God, ‘
ADepart from us!
We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways.
15 ‘
1Who is
2the Almighty, that we should serve Him,
And
Awhat would we gain if we entreat Him?’
16 “Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand;
The
Acounsel of the wicked is far from me.
17 “How often is
Athe lamp of the wicked put out,
Or does their
Bcalamity fall on them?
Does
1God apportion destruction in His anger?
18 “Are they as
Astraw before the wind,
And like
Bchaff which the storm carries away?
19 “
You say, ‘
AGod stores away
1a man’s iniquity for his sons.’
Let
2God repay him so that he may know
it. 20 “Let his
Aown eyes see his decay,
And let him
Bdrink of the wrath of
1the Almighty.
21 “For what does he care for his household
1after him,
When the number of his months is cut off?
22 “Can anyone
Ateach God knowledge,
In that He
Bjudges those on high?
23 “One
Adies in his full strength,
Being wholly at ease and
1satisfied;
24 His
1sides are filled out with fat,
And the
Amarrow of his bones is moist,
25 While another dies with a bitter soul,
Never even
1tasting
anything good.
26 “Together they
Alie down in the dust,
27 “Behold, I know your thoughts,
And the plans by which you would wrong me.
28 “For you say, ‘Where is the house of
Athe nobleman,
And where is the
Btent, the dwelling places of the wicked?’
29 “Have you not asked wayfaring men,
And do you not recognize their
1witness?
30 “For the
Awicked is reserved for the day of calamity;
They will be led forth at
Bthe day of fury.
31 “Who will
1confront him with his actions,
And who will repay him for what he has done?
32 “While he is carried to the grave,
Men will keep watch over his tomb.
33 “The
Aclods of the valley will
1gently cover him;
Moreover,
Ball men will
2follow after him,
While countless ones go before him.
34 “How then will you vainly
Acomfort me,
For your answers remain
full of 1falsehood?”