Job 21:4-18
English Standard Version
4 As for me, is my (A)complaint against man?
Why should I not be impatient?
5 Look at me and be appalled,
and (B)lay your hand over your mouth.
6 When I remember, I am dismayed,
and shuddering seizes my flesh.
7 (C)Why do the wicked live,
reach old age, and grow mighty in power?
8 Their (D)offspring are established in their presence,
and their descendants before their eyes.
9 Their houses are (E)safe from fear,
and (F)no rod of God is upon them.
10 Their bull breeds without fail;
their cow calves and (G)does not miscarry.
11 They send out their (H)little boys like a flock,
and their children dance.
12 They sing to (I)the tambourine and (J)the lyre
and rejoice to the sound of (K)the pipe.
13 They (L)spend their days in prosperity,
and in (M)peace they go down to (N)Sheol.
14 They say to God, (O)‘Depart from us!
We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.
15 (P)What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
And what (Q)profit do we get if we pray to him?’
16 Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand?
(R)The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17 “How often is it that (S)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 (T)straw before the wind,
and like (U)chaff that the storm carries away?
Footnotes
- Job 21:17 Hebrew he
Job 21:4-18
Common English Bible
4 Are my complaints against another human;
why is my patience short?
5 Turn to me and be appalled;
lay your hand over your mouth.
6 If I recall it, I’m scared;
shaking seizes my body.
The success of the wicked
7 Why do the wicked live,
grow old, and even become strong?
8 Their children are always with them,
their offspring in their sight,
9 their houses safe from dread,
God’s punishing stick not upon them.
10 Their bull always breeds successfully;
their cows give birth and never miscarry.
11 They send forth their little ones like sheep;
their infants bounce around.
12 They raise drum and lyre,
rejoice at the sound of a flute.
13 They spend their days contentedly,
go down to the grave[a] peacefully.
14 They say to God, “Turn away from us;
we take no pleasure in knowing your ways;
15 who is the Almighty[b] that we should serve him,
and what can we gain if we meet him?”
16 Look, isn’t their well-being the work of their own hands?
A sinner’s logic is beyond me.
Desired vindication
17 How often does the lamp of the wicked flicker
or disaster come upon them,
with its fury inflicting pain on them?
18 Let them be like straw in the wind,
like dry grass stolen by a storm.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible