Job 21
1 Then responded Job, and said: —
Then Job answered, and said:
2 Hear ye patiently my words, and let this be your consolation:
Hear, I beseech you, my words, and do penance.
3 Suffer me, that, I, may speak, and, after I have spoken, thou canst mock!
Suffer me, and I will speak, and after, if you please, laugh at my words.
4 Did, I, unto man, make my complaint? Wherefore, then, should my spirit not be impatient?
Is my debate against man, that I should not have just reason to be troubled?
5 Turn round to me, and be astonished, and lay hand on mouth!
Hearken to me and be astonished, and lay your finger on your mouth.
6 When I call to mind, then am I dismayed, and there seizeth my flesh a shuddering: —
As for me, when I remember, I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
7 Wherefore do, lawless men, live, advance in years, even wax mighty in power?
Why then do the wicked live, are they advanced, and strengthened with riches?
8 Their seed, is established in their sight, along with them, yea their offspring, before their eyes;
Their seed continueth before them, a multitude of kinsmen, and of children’s children in their sight.
9 Their houses, are at peace, without dread, neither is, the rod of GOD, upon them;
Their houses are secure and peaceable, and the rod of God is not upon them.
10 His bull, covereth, and causeth not aversion, His cow safely calveth, and casteth not her young;
Their cattle have conceived, and failed not: their cow has calved, and is not deprived of her fruit.
11 They send forth—like a flock—their young ones, and, their children, skip about for joy;
Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children dance and play.
12 They rejoice aloud as [with] timbrel and lyre, and make merry to the sound of the pipe;
They take the timbrel, and the harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
13 They complete, in prosperity, their days, and, in a moment to hades, they sink down. (Sheol h7585)
They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment they go down to hell. (Sheol h7585)
14 Yet they said unto GOD, Depart from us, and, In the knowledge of thy ways, find we no pleasure.
Who have said to God: Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? Or what shall we profit, that we should urge him?
Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what doth it profit us if we pray to him?
16 Lo! not in their own hand, is their welfare, The counsel of lawless men, is far from me!
Yet because their good things are not in their hand, may the counsel of the wicked be far from me.
17 How oft, the lamp of the lawless, goeth out, and their calamity, cometh upon them, Sorrows, apportioneth he in his anger;
How often shall the lamp of the wicked be put out, and a deluge come upon them, and he shall distribute the sorrows of his wrath?
18 They become as straw before the wind, and as chaff, which the storm stealeth away.
They shall be as chaff before the face of the wind, and as ashes which the whirlwind scattereth.
19 Shall, GOD, reserve, for his children, his sorrow? Let him recompense him so that he may know it;
God shall lay up the sorrow of the father for his children: and when he shall repay, then shall he know.
20 His own eyes, shall see his misfortune, and, the wrath of the Almighty, shall he drink.
His eyes shall see his own destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what shall be his pleasure in his house after him, when, the number of his months, is cut in twain?
For what is it to him what befalleth his house after him: and if the number of his months be diminished by one half?
22 Is it, to GOD, one can teach knowledge, seeing that, he, shall judge, them who are on high?
Shall any one teach God knowledge, who judgeth those that are high?
23 This, man dieth, in the very perfection of his prosperity, wholly tranquil and secure;
One man dieth strong, and hale, rich and happy.
24 His veins, are filled with nourishment, and, the marrow of his bones, is fresh;
His bowels are full of fat, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
25 Whereas, this other man, dieth, in bitterness of soul, and hath never tasted good fortune:
But another dieth in bitterness of soul without any riches:
26 Together, in the dust, they lie down, and, the worm, spreadeth a covering over them.
And yet they shall sleep together in the dust, and worms shall cover them.
27 Lo! I know your plans, and the devices, wherewith ye would do me violence!
Surely I know your thoughts, and your unjust judgments against me.
28 For ye say, Where is the house of the noble-minded? And where the dwelling-tent of the lawless?
For you say: Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?
29 Have ye not asked the passers-by in the way? And, their signs, can ye not recognise?
Ask any one of them that go by the way, and you shall perceive that he knoweth these same things.
30 That, to the day of calamity, is the wicked reserved, to the day of indignant visitation, are they led.
Because the wicked man is reserved to the day of destruction, and he shall be brought to the day of wrath.
31 Who can declare—to his face—his way? And, what, he, hath done, who shall recompense to him?
Who shall reprove his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
32 Yet, he, to the graves, is borne, and, over the tomb, one keepeth watch;
He shall be brought to the graves, and shall watch in the heap of the dead.
33 Pleasant to him are the mounds of the torrent-bed, —and, after him, doth every man march, as, before him, there were without number.
He hath been acceptable to the gravel of Cocytus, and he shall draw every man after him, and there are innumerable before him.
34 How then should ye comfort me with vanity, since, as for your replies, there lurketh, [in them] treachery?
How then do ye comfort me in vain, whereas your answer is shewn to be repugnant to truth?
