Job 21
1 Then Job replied,
Job replied,
2 “Listen to what I say, all [three] of you; that is the only thing that you can do that will comfort me.
“Please listen carefully to what I say—that would be one comfort you could give me.
3 Be patient with me, and allow me to speak. Then, after I am finished speaking, you can continue to make fun of me.
Bear with me; let me speak. After I've spoken you can resume mocking me.
4 “It is certainly not [RHQ] people against whom I am complaining, [but God] And it is certainly [RHQ] right for me to be impatient!
Am I complaining against people? Of course not. Why shouldn't I be impatient?
5 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]?
Just take a look at me. Aren't you appalled? Cover your mouth with your hand in shock!
6 When I think about [what has happened to me], I am frightened and my entire body shakes.
Every time I think of what's happened to me I am horrified and I shake all over with fear.
7 “[But let me ask this: ] ‘Why do wicked people continue to live, and become prosperous, and not die until they are very old?’
Why do the wicked continue to live, to grow old and increasingly powerful?
8 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.
Their children are with them; they watch their grandchildren grow up.
9 Wicked people live in their own houses without being afraid, and God does not punish [MTY] them.
They live in their homes in safety—they are not afraid. God does not use his rod to beat them.
10 Their bulls always mate with the cows successfully, and the cows give birth to calves and never miscarry.
Their bulls always breed successfully; their cows give birth to calves and do not miscarry.
11 Wicked people send their young children outside [to play], and the children play [happily] like [SIM] lambs [in a pasture].
They send out their little ones like lambs to play; their children dance around.
12 Some children dance and sing, while others shake tambourines and play lyres, and they are happy when they hear people playing flutes.
They sing accompanied by the tambourine and lyre; they celebrate with the music of the flute.
13 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)
They live out their lives contentedly, and go down to Sheol in peace. (Sheol h7585)
14 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!
Yet they tell God, ‘Get lost! We don't want anything to do with you.
15 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]’
Who does the Almighty think he is for us to serve him as slaves? What benefit is there for us if we pray to him?’
16 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.
Such people believe they make their own fortune, but I don't accept their way of thinking.
17 (“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]
How often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out? How often does disaster come upon them? How often does God punish the wicked in his anger?
18 [He does not blow] them away like wind blows away straw; they are never carried off by a whirlwind.
Are they blown along like straw in the wind? Does a tornado come in and carry them away?
19 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].
Some say, ‘God saves up people's punishment for their children.’ But I say, ‘God should punish those people themselves so that they can learn from it.’
20 I hope/wish that wicked people will experience themselves being destroyed, that they will experience being punished by an angry Almighty God.
Let them see their destruction themselves, and drink deeply from God's anger.
21 After wicked people are dead, they are not at all concerned [RHQ] about what happens to their families [MTY].
For they don't care what happens to their families once they're dead.
22 “Since God judges [everyone, ] even those that are in heaven, (who can teach God anything?/certainly no one can teach God anything.) [RHQ]
Can anyone teach God anything he doesn't already know, since he is the one who judges even heavenly beings?
23 Some people die while they are very healthy, while they are peaceful, when they are not afraid of anything.
One person dies in good health, totally comfortable and secure.
24 Their bodies are fat; their bones are strong.
Their body is fat from eating well; their bones still strong.
25 Other people die being very miserable; they have never experienced good things happening to them.
Another dies after a miserable life without every experiencing happiness.
26 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].
Yet they are both buried in the same dust; they are treated alike in death, eaten by maggots.
27 “Listen, I know what you [three] are thinking. I know the evil things that you plan to do to me.
Look, I know what you're thinking, and your schemes to do me wrong.
28 You say, ‘What happened to the tents in which wicked people were living? The houses of evil rulers have been destroyed!’
You may ask me, ‘Where is the home of the great man? Where is the place where the wicked live?’
29 But have you never inquired of people who travel much? Do you not believe their reports about what they have seen,
Haven't you asked people who travel? Don't you pay attention to what they tell you?
30 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]?
Wicked people are spared in times of disaster; they are rescued from the day of judgment.
31 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.
Who confronts them with their actions? Who pays them back for what they have done?
32 The corpses of wicked people are carried to their graves, and people are put there to guard those graves.
When they eventually die and are carried to the graveyard, their tomb is guarded. The earth of the grave softly covers them.
33 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.
Everyone attends their funeral service; a huge procession of people comes to pay their last respects.
34 “So how can you console me by talking nonsense? Every reply that you make is full of lies!”
Why do you try to comfort me with worthless nonsense? Your answers are just a pack of lies!”
