Job 21
Complete Jewish Bible
21 Then Iyov responded:
2 “Listen carefully to my words;
let this be the comfort you give me.
3 Bear with me as I speak;
then, after I have spoken, you can go on mocking.
4 “As for me, is my complaint merely to other people?
Don’t I have grounds for being short-tempered?
5 Look at me, and be appalled;
cover your mouth with your hand!
6 Whenever I recall it, I am in shock;
my whole body shudders.
7 “Why do the wicked go on living,
grow old and keep increasing their power?
8 They see their children settled with them,
their posterity assured.
9 Their houses are safe, with nothing to fear;
God’s rod is not on them.
10 Their bulls are fertile without fail,
their cows get pregnant and don’t miscarry.
11 They produce flocks of babies,
and their children dance around.
12 They sing with tambourines and lyres
and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.
13 They spend their days in prosperity
and go down to the grave in peace.
14 “Yet to God they said, ‘Leave us alone!
We don’t want to know about your ways.
15 What is Shaddai, that we should serve him?
What do we gain if we pray to him?’
16 Isn’t their prosperity already theirs?
The plans of the wicked are far from me.
17 “How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?
How often does their calamity come upon them?
How often does [God] deal out pain in his anger,
18 to make them like straw in the wind,
like chaff carried off by a storm?
19 God lays up for their children
[the punishment for their] iniquity.
He should lay it on [the wicked] themselves,
so that they can feel it!
20 Let their own eyes see their own destruction
and themselves drink the wrath of Shaddai.
21 What joy can they have in their family after them,
given that their months are numbered?
22 “Can anyone teach God knowledge?
After all, he judges those who are on high.
23 One person dies in his full strength,
completely at ease and content;
24 his pails are full of milk,
and the marrow in his bones is moist.
25 Another dies with embittered heart,
never having tasted happiness.
26 They lie down alike in the dust,
and the worm covers them both.
27 “Look, I know what you are thinking
and your plans to do me wrong.
28 You ask, ‘Where is the great man’s house?
Where is the tent where the wicked once lived?’
29 Haven’t you ever questioned travelers?
Don’t you accept their testimony
30 that the evil man is saved on the day of disaster,
rescued on the day of wrath?
31 So who will confront him with his ways?
Who will repay him for what he has done?
32 For he is carried off to the grave,
people keep watch over his tomb,
33 the clods of the valley are sweet to him;
so everyone follows his example,
just as before him were countless others.
34 “Why offer me such meaningless comfort?
Of your answers, only the perfidy remains.”
Job 21
King James Version
21 But Job answered and said,
2 Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations.
3 Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on.
4 As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?
5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.
6 Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?
8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.
10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.
14 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
16 Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.
18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
19 God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.
20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?
22 Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.
23 One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.
24 His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
25 And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.
26 They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.
27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.
28 For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?
29 Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens,
30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.
31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.
33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.
34 How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.