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
Holman Christian Standard Bible
4 As for me, is my complaint(A) against a man?
Then why shouldn’t I be impatient?
5 Look at me and shudder;(B)
put your hand over your mouth.(C)
6 When I think about it, I am terrified
and my body trembles(D) in horror.
7 Why do the wicked continue to live,
growing old and becoming powerful?
8 Their children are established while they are still alive,[a]
and their descendants, before their eyes.
9 Their homes are secure and free of fear;(E)
no rod from God strikes them.(F)
10 Their bulls breed without fail;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
11 They let their little ones run around like lambs;
their children skip about,
12 singing to the tambourine and lyre
and rejoicing at the sound of the flute.(G)
13 They spend[b] their days in prosperity(H)
and go down to Sheol in peace.
14 Yet they say to God: “Leave us alone!
We don’t want to know Your ways.(I)
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him,
and what will we gain by pleading with Him?”(J)
16 But their prosperity is not of their own doing.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me!(K)
17 How often is the lamp(L) of the wicked put out?
Does disaster[c] come on them?
Does He apportion destruction in His anger?
18 Are they like straw before the wind,
like chaff(M) a storm sweeps away?
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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