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Job 21
The Message
Job 21
The Message
Job’s Response
Why Do the Wicked Have It So Good?
21 1-3 Job replied:
“Now listen to me carefully, please listen,
at least do me the favor of listening.
Put up with me while I have my say—
then you can mock me later to your heart’s content.
4-16 “It’s not you I’m complaining to—it’s God.
Is it any wonder I’m getting fed up with his silence?
Take a good look at me. Aren’t you appalled by what’s happened?
No! Don’t say anything. I can do without your comments.
When I look back, I go into shock,
my body is racked with spasms.
Why do the wicked have it so good,
live to a ripe old age and get rich?
They get to see their children succeed,
get to watch and enjoy their grandchildren.
Their homes are peaceful and free from fear;
they never experience God’s disciplining rod.
Their bulls breed with great vigor
and their cows calve without fail.
They send their children out to play
and watch them frolic like spring lambs.
They make music with fiddles and flutes,
have good times singing and dancing.
They have a long life on easy street,
and die painlessly in their sleep.
They say to God, ‘Get lost!
We’ve no interest in you or your ways.
Why should we have dealings with God Almighty?
What’s there in it for us?’
But they’re wrong, dead wrong—they’re not gods.
It’s beyond me how they can carry on like this!
17-21 “Still, how often does it happen that the wicked fail,
or disaster strikes,
or they get their just deserts?
How often are they blown away by bad luck?
Not very often.
You might say, ‘God is saving up the punishment for their children.’
I say, ‘Give it to them right now so they’ll know what they’ve done!’
They deserve to experience the effects of their evil,
feel the full force of God’s wrath firsthand.
What do they care what happens to their families
after they’re safely tucked away in the grave?
Fancy Funerals with All the Trimmings
22-26 “But who are we to tell God how to run his affairs?
He’s dealing with matters that are way over our heads.
Some people die in the prime of life,
with everything going for them—
fat and sassy.
Others die bitter and bereft,
never getting a taste of happiness.
They’re laid out side by side in the cemetery,
where the worms can’t tell one from the other.
27-33 “I’m not deceived. I know what you’re up to,
the plans you’re cooking up to bring me down.
Naively you claim that the castles of tyrants fall to pieces,
that the achievements of the wicked collapse.
Have you ever asked world travelers how they see it?
Have you not listened to their stories
Of evil men and women who got off scot-free,
who never had to pay for their wickedness?
Did anyone ever confront them with their crimes?
Did they ever have to face the music?
Not likely—they’re given fancy funerals
with all the trimmings,
Gently lowered into expensive graves,
with everyone telling lies about how wonderful they were.
34 “So how do you expect me to get any comfort from your nonsense?
Your so-called comfort is a tissue of lies.”
约伯记 21
Chinese New Version (Simplified)
约伯记 21
Chinese New Version (Simplified)
约伯的反驳
21 约伯回答说：
2 “你们要细听我的言语，
这就算是你们给我的安慰。
3 请原谅我，我又要说话了，
说完以后，就任凭你们嘲笑吧！
4 我岂是抱怨的人呢？
我的心为甚么不能忍耐呢？
5 你们注视我，惊讶吧，
用手掩口吧。
6 我每逢想起，就惊惶，
浑身战抖。
恶人反得福乐
7 恶人为甚么总可以存活，
活到老，而且财势强大？
8 他们的后裔在他们面前坚定，
他们眼见自己的子孙在他们周围立定。
9 他们的家宅平安无惧，
神的刑杖也不加在他们身上。
10 他们的公牛交配而不落种，
他们的母牛下犊而不掉胎，
11 他们叫小孩子出去多如羊群，
他们的年轻人四处跳跃；
12 他们跟着琴鼓高歌，
又因着箫的声音欢乐。
13 他们幸福度过他们的日子，
一剎那间下阴间，毫无病痛。
14 然而他们对 神说：‘离开我们吧，
我们不愿意晓得你的道路。
15 全能者是谁，竟要我们服事他呢？
我们若向他恳求，有甚么益处呢？’
16 他们的福乐岂不是掌握在他们的手中？
恶人的谋算离我很远。
17 恶人的灯何尝熄灭？
灾难何尝临到他们身上？
神何尝在忿怒中把痛苦分给他们！
18 他们何尝像风前的干草，
何尝像暴风刮去的糠秕？
19 你们说：‘ 神为恶人的儿女积蓄罪孽’，
我却说：‘ 神报应他本人，好叫他自己明白。’
20 愿他亲眼看见自己败落，
愿他喝全能者的烈怒。
21 他的岁月既然断绝，
他还会看顾自己身后的家吗？
22 神既然审判那些在高位的，
谁能把甚么知识教给他呢？
23 有人到死的时候仍然气力充足，
享尽平静与安逸；
24 他的奶桶充满鲜奶，
他的骨髓滋润。
25 有人到死的时候心里痛苦，
一生未尝美食；
26 他们都一起躺在尘土中，
虫子爬满他们身上。
27 我知道你们的心思，
与你们恶待我的计谋。
28 你们问：‘霸王的房屋在哪里？
恶人住过的帐棚在哪里？’
29 你们没有问问过路的人吗？
不承认他们所提的证据吗？
30 就是恶人在灾难的日子得存留，
在 神发怒的时候得逃脱。
31 他所行的，有谁敢当面指责他呢？
他所作的，有谁能报应他呢？
32 然而他被人抬到坟墓里，
并且有人看守他的墓地。
33 他以谷中的土块为甘甜，
所有的人跟在他后面，
走在他前面的不计其数。
34 你们的回话既然只存虚假，
怎样徒然安慰我呢？”
Job 21
New International Version
Job 21
New International Version
Job
21 Then Job replied:
2 “Listen carefully to my words;(A)
let this be the consolation you give me.(B)
3 Bear with me while I speak,
and after I have spoken, mock on.(C)
4 “Is my complaint(D) directed to a human being?
Why should I not be impatient?(E)
5 Look at me and be appalled;
clap your hand over your mouth.(F)
6 When I think about this, I am terrified;(G)
trembling seizes my body.(H)
7 Why do the wicked live on,
growing old and increasing in power?(I)
8 They see their children established around them,
their offspring before their eyes.(J)
9 Their homes are safe and free from fear;(K)
the rod of God is not on them.(L)
10 Their bulls never fail to breed;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.(M)
11 They send forth their children as a flock;(N)
their little ones dance about.
12 They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre;(O)
they make merry to the sound of the pipe.(P)
13 They spend their years in prosperity(Q)
and go down to the grave(R) in peace.[a](S)
14 Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone!(T)
We have no desire to know your ways.(U)
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
What would we gain by praying to him?’(V)
16 But their prosperity is not in their own hands,
so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.(W)
17 “Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?(X)
How often does calamity(Y) come upon them,
the fate God allots in his anger?(Z)
18 How often are they like straw before the wind,
like chaff(AA) swept away(AB) by a gale?(AC)
19 It is said, ‘God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.’(AD)
Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it!(AE)
20 Let their own eyes see their destruction;(AF)
let them drink(AG) the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.(AH)
21 For what do they care about the families they leave behind(AI)
when their allotted months(AJ) come to an end?(AK)
22 “Can anyone teach knowledge to God,(AL)
since he judges even the highest?(AM)
23 One person dies in full vigor,(AN)
completely secure and at ease,(AO)
24 well nourished(AP) in body,[b]
bones(AQ) rich with marrow.(AR)
25 Another dies in bitterness of soul,(AS)
never having enjoyed anything good.
26 Side by side they lie in the dust,(AT)
and worms(AU) cover them both.(AV)
27 “I know full well what you are thinking,
the schemes by which you would wrong me.
28 You say, ‘Where now is the house of the great,(AW)
the tents where the wicked lived?’(AX)
29 Have you never questioned those who travel?
Have you paid no regard to their accounts—
30 that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity,(AY)
that they are delivered from[c] the day of wrath?(AZ)
31 Who denounces their conduct to their face?
Who repays them for what they have done?(BA)
32 They are carried to the grave,
and watch is kept over their tombs.(BB)
33 The soil in the valley is sweet to them;(BC)
everyone follows after them,
and a countless throng goes[d] before them.(BD)
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
Chinese New Version (Simplified) (CNVS)
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.