Job 21:4-18
Revised Standard Version
4 As for me, is my complaint against man?
Why should I not be impatient?
5 Look at me, and be appalled,
and lay your hand upon your mouth.
6 When I think of it I am dismayed,
and shuddering seizes my flesh.
7 Why do the wicked live,
reach old age, and grow mighty in power?
8 Their children are established in their presence,
and their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their houses are safe from fear,
and no rod of God is upon them.
10 Their bull breeds without fail;
their cow calves, and does not cast her calf.
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock,
and their children dance.
12 They sing to the tambourine and the lyre,
and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.
13 They spend their days in prosperity,
and in peace they go down to Sheol.
14 They say to God, ‘Depart from us!
We do not desire the knowledge of thy ways.
15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’
16 Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand?
The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17 “How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out?
That their calamity comes upon them?
That God[a] distributes pains in his anger?
18 That they are like straw before the wind,
and like chaff that the storm carries away?
Footnotes
- Job 21:17 Heb he
Job 21:4-18
New International Version
4 “Is my complaint(A) directed to a human being?
Why should I not be impatient?(B)
5 Look at me and be appalled;
clap your hand over your mouth.(C)
6 When I think about this, I am terrified;(D)
trembling seizes my body.(E)
7 Why do the wicked live on,
growing old and increasing in power?(F)
8 They see their children established around them,
their offspring before their eyes.(G)
9 Their homes are safe and free from fear;(H)
the rod of God is not on them.(I)
10 Their bulls never fail to breed;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.(J)
11 They send forth their children as a flock;(K)
their little ones dance about.
12 They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre;(L)
they make merry to the sound of the pipe.(M)
13 They spend their years in prosperity(N)
and go down to the grave(O) in peace.[a](P)
14 Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone!(Q)
We have no desire to know your ways.(R)
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
What would we gain by praying to him?’(S)
16 But their prosperity is not in their own hands,
so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.(T)
Footnotes
- Job 21:13 Or in an instant
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