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As for me, is my complaint to man?
    Why shouldn’t I be impatient?
Look at me, and be astonished.
    Lay your hand on your mouth.
When I remember, I am troubled.
    Horror takes hold of my flesh.

“Why do the wicked live,
    become old, yes, and grow mighty in power?
Their child is established with them in their sight,
    their offspring before their eyes.
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?

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Footnotes

  1. 21:13 Sheol is the place of the dead.

As for me, is (A)my complaint [a]to a mortal?
Or (B)why should [b]I not be impatient?
Look at me, and be astonished,
And (C)put your hand over your mouth.
Even when I remember, I am disturbed,
And (D)horror takes hold of my flesh.
Why (E)do the wicked still live,
Grow old, and also become very [c](F)powerful?
Their [d](G)descendants endure with them in their sight,
And their offspring before their eyes,
Their houses (H)are safe from fear,
And the [e]rod of God is not on them.
10 His ox mates [f]without fail;
His cow calves and does not miscarry.
11 They send out their boys like the flock,
And their children dance.
12 They [g]sing with the tambourine and harp,
And rejoice at the sound of the flute.
13 They (I)spend their days in prosperity,
And [h]suddenly they go down to [i]Sheol.
14 Yet they say to God, ‘(J)Go away from us!
We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways.
15 [j]Who is [k]the Almighty, that we should serve Him,
And (K)what would we gain if we plead with Him?’
16 Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand;
The (L)advice of the wicked is far from me.

17 “How often is (M)the lamp of the wicked put out,
Or does their (N)disaster fall on them?
Does [l]God apportion destruction in His anger?
18 Are they as (O)straw before the wind,
And like (P)chaff which the storm carries away?

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Footnotes

  1. Job 21:4 Or against
  2. Job 21:4 Lit my spirit
  3. Job 21:7 Or superior
  4. Job 21:8 Lit seed
  5. Job 21:9 I.e., punishment
  6. Job 21:10 Lit and does not fail
  7. Job 21:12 Lit lifted up the voice
  8. Job 21:13 Or in peacefulness
  9. Job 21:13 I.e., the netherworld
  10. Job 21:15 Lit What
  11. Job 21:15 Heb Shaddai
  12. Job 21:17 Lit He