Job 21
Lexham English Bible
Job’s Seventh Speech: A Response to Zophar
21 Then[a] Job answered and said,
2 “Listen carefully to my words,
and let this be your[b] consolation.
3 Bear with me, and I myself[c] will speak;
then[d] after my speaking you can mock.
4 As for me, is my complaint for human beings?
And if so, why cannot I be impatient?
5 Turn to me and be appalled,
and place your hand on your mouth.
6 And when I think of it, I am horrified,[e]
and shuddering seizes my flesh.
7 “Why do the wicked live,
grow old, even grow mighty in power?
8 With them their offspring are established before them,[f]
and their descendants before their eyes.
9 Their houses are safe without fear,
and the rod of God is not upon them.
10 His bull breeds and does not fail;
his cow calves and does not miscarry.
11 They send out their little ones like the flock,
and their children dance around.
12 They sing[g] to the tambourine and lyre,
and they rejoice to the sound of the long flute.
13 They spend their days in prosperity,
and in peace they go down to Sheol.
14 And they say to God, ‘Turn away from us,
for[h] we do not desire to know your ways.
15 Who is Shaddai that we should serve him,
or[i] what would we benefit when we plead with him?’
16 Look, their prosperity is not in their hands;
the schemes of the wicked are repugnant[j] to me.
17 “How often is the lamp of the wicked put out,
and their disaster comes upon them?
He[k] distributes pains in his anger.
18 How often are they like straw before[l] the wind,
and like chaff that the storm carries away?
19 ‘God stores up his iniquity for his children’?[m]
Then let him repay it to him that[n] he may know.
20 Let his eyes see his decay,
and let him drink from the wrath of Shaddai,
21 for what does he care for[o] his house after him,
when the number of his months is[p] cut off?
22 Can anyone teach knowledge to God,
since[q] he himself[r] judges high ones?
23 This one dies in full prosperity,[s]
completely[t] at ease and secure.
24 His vats are full with milk
and the marrow of his bones is moist.
25 Yet[u] another dies with a bitter inner self[v]
and has not tasted prosperity.
26 They lie down together in the dust,
and maggots cover them.
27 “Look, I know your[w] thoughts
and the schemes you devise against me.
28 For you say, ‘Where is the nobleman’s house,
and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell?’[x]
29 Do you not ask those traveling the roads,
and do you not take notice of their accounts?
30 Indeed, the wicked is spared from the day of disaster;
he is delivered from the day of wrath.
31 Who denounces his way to his face?
And who repays him for what he has done?
32 When[y] he is brought to the grave,
then[z] someone stands guard over the tomb.
33 The clods of the valley are sweet to him;
everyone will follow after him,
and before[aa] him they are innumerable.[ab]
34 So[ac] how will you comfort me with emptiness,
when[ad] fraud is left in your answers?”
Footnotes
- Job 21:1 Hebrew “And”
- Job 21:2 Plural
- Job 21:3 Emphatic personal pronoun
- Job 21:3 Hebrew “and”
- Job 21:6 Hebrew “and I am horrified”
- Job 21:8 Literally “to their faces”
- Job 21:12 Literally “they lift up their voices”
- Job 21:14 Hebrew “and”
- Job 21:15 Hebrew “and”
- Job 21:16 Or “the plan of the wicked is repugnant”
- Job 21:17 The antecedent is “God,” or possibly “the Almighty”
- Job 21:18 Literally “to the faces of”
- Job 21:19 Or “You say, ‘God stores up his iniquity for his children.’”
- Job 21:19 Hebrew “and”
- Job 21:21 Literally “his joy in”
- Job 21:21 Hebrew “are”
- Job 21:22 Hebrew “and”
- Job 21:22 Emphatic personal pronoun
- Job 21:23 Literally “in the vigor of his prosperity”
- Job 21:23 Literally “all of him”
- Job 21:25 Hebrew “And”
- Job 21:25 Or “soul”
- Job 21:27 Plural
- Job 21:28 Literally “tent of dwelling places of wicked”
- Job 21:32 Hebrew “And”
- Job 21:32 Hebrew “and”
- Job 21:33 Literally “to the faces of”
- Job 21:33 Literally “there is not number”
- Job 21:34 Hebrew “And”
- Job 21:34 Hebrew “and”
Job 21
World English Bible
21 Then Job answered,
2 “Listen diligently to my speech.
Let this be your consolation.
3 Allow me, and I also will speak;
After I have spoken, mock on.
4 As for me, is my complaint to man?
Why shouldn’t I be impatient?
5 Look at me, and be astonished.
Lay your hand on your mouth.
6 When I remember, I am troubled.
Horror takes hold of my flesh.
7 “Why do the wicked live,
become old, yes, and grow mighty in power?
8 Their child is established with them in their sight,
their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their houses are safe from fear,
neither is the rod of God upon them.
10 Their bulls breed without fail.
Their cows calve, and don’t miscarry.
11 They send out their little ones like a flock.
Their children dance.
12 They sing to the tambourine and harp,
and rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
13 They spend their days in prosperity.
In an instant they go down to Sheol.[a]
14 They tell God, ‘Depart from us,
for we don’t want to know about your ways.
15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
What profit should we have, if we pray to him?’
16 Behold, their prosperity is not 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 on them,
that God distributes sorrows in his anger?
18 How often is it that they are as stubble before the wind,
as chaff that the storm carries away?
19 You say, ‘God lays up his iniquity for his children.’
Let him recompense it to himself, that he may know it.
20 Let his own eyes see his destruction.
Let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what does he care for his house after him,
when the number of his months is cut off?
22 “Shall any teach God knowledge,
since he judges those who are high?
23 One dies in his full strength,
being wholly at ease and quiet.
24 His pails are full of milk.
The marrow of his bones is moistened.
25 Another dies in bitterness of soul,
and never tastes of good.
26 They lie down alike in the dust.
The worm covers them.
27 “Behold, I know your thoughts,
the plans with which you would wrong me.
28 For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince?
Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’
29 Haven’t you asked wayfaring men?
Don’t you know their evidences,
30 that the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity,
That they are led out to the day of wrath?
31 Who will declare his way to his face?
Who will repay him what he has done?
32 Yet he will be borne to the grave.
Men will keep watch over the tomb.
33 The clods of the valley will be sweet to him.
All men will draw after him,
as there were innumerable before him.
34 So how can you comfort me with nonsense,
because in your answers there remains only falsehood?”
Footnotes
- 21:13 Sheol is the place of the dead.
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