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21 ¶ But Job answered and said,
2 Hear diligently my speech, and let this be instead of your consolations.
3 Suffer me that I may speak; and after I have spoken, mock on.
4 As for me, is my complaint to man? And if so, why should not my spirit be troubled?
5 Look upon me and be astonished and lay your hand upon your mouth.
6 Even I myself, when I remember, I am afraid, and trembling takes hold on my flesh.
7 ¶ Why do the wicked live and become old and even increase in riches?
8 Their seed is with them, established in their sight, and their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their houses are safe from fear; neither is the rod of God upon them.
10 Their cows conceive, and do not abort; their cows calve and do not cast forth their young.
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock of sheep, and their children dance.
12 They jump at the sound of the timbrel and harp and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
13 They spend their days in pleasure and in a moment go down to Sheol.
14 Therefore, they say unto God, Depart from us; for we do not desire the knowledge of thy ways.
15 Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? And what profit should we have if we pray unto him?
16 Behold that their good is not in their hands; the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17 ¶ How often is the lamp of the wicked put out and their destruction comes upon them, and God distributes sorrows upon them in his anger.
18 They shall be as stubble before the wind and as chaff taken up by the whirlwind.
19 God shall lay up his violence for their sons; and he will reward him so that he shall know it.
20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what delight shall he have in his house after him, being cut off in the number of his months?
22 Shall he teach God knowledge, seeing he judges those that are high?
23 This one shall die in the full strength of his beauty, being completely at ease and quiet.
24 His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
25 And another dies in the bitterness of his soul, never having eaten 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 imaginations which ye devise against me.
28 For ye say, What is of the house of the prince, and what of the tent of the habitation of the wicked?
29 Have ye not asked those that go by the way, and do ye not know their tokens?
30 That the wicked is reserved for 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 has done?
32 He shall yet be brought to the grave and shall remain in the tomb.
33 The clods of the river valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall be drawn after him, as there were innumerable before him.
34 How then do ye comfort me in vain, given that your answers remain as falsehood?
22 ¶ Then Eliphaz, the Temanite, answered and said,
2 Can a man be profitable unto God? For he that is wise is profitable unto himself.
3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art justified? Or is it gain to him that thou makest thy ways perfect?
4 Will he reprove thee or will he enter with thee into judgment because he fears thee?
5 ¶ Certainly thy wickedness is great and thine iniquities have no end.
6 For thou didst take a pledge from thy brother without cause and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 Thou didst not give water to drink to the weary, and thou hast withheld bread from the hungry.
8 But the man of means had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.
9 Thou hast sent the widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
10 Therefore, snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubles thee
11 or darkness, that thou canst not see, and abundance of waters cover thee.
12 Is not God in the height of the heavens? Behold the height of the stars, how high they are!
13 And thou shalt say, What does God know? How can he judge through the darkness?
14 Thick clouds are his hiding place, and he does not see; and he walks in the circuit of heaven.
15 ¶ Dost thou desire to keep the old way which wicked men have trodden?
16 Who were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood.
17 Who said unto God, Depart from us; and what can the Almighty do unto us?
18 He had filled their houses with good things. Therefore, the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
19 The righteous shall see it and be glad; and the innocent laughs them to scorn.
20 Whereas our substance was not cut down, when the fire had consumed the rest of them.
21 ¶ Make up thy friendship now with him, and thou shalt have peace; thereby good shall come unto thee.
22 Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.
23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tent;
24 then thou shalt lay up gold as dust and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.
25 And the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.
26 For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty and shalt lift up thy face unto God.
27 Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.
28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee; and the light shall shine upon thy ways.
29 When others are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.
30 He shall deliver the island of the innocent; and in the pureness of thine hands thou shalt be kept.
23 ¶ Then Job answered and said,
2 Today I will also speak with bitterness; my stroke is heavier than my groaning.
3 Oh, that I knew where I might find him! That I might come even to his seat!
4 I would order judgment before him and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would know the words which he would answer me and understand what he would say unto me.
6 Will he plead against me with his great power? No, but rather he would put it in me.
7 There the righteous might dispute with him; and should I escape for ever from the one who condemns me.
8 ¶ Behold, I shall go to the east and not find him; and to the west, but I cannot perceive him;
9 if he is working to the north, I shall not see him; to the south, he hides himself, that I shall not see him.
10 But he has known the way that I take; he has tried me, and I have come forth as gold.
11 My feet have held to his steps, I have kept his way, and have not departed.
12 Neither have I separated myself from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
13 ¶ But if he determines something, who can turn him? His soul desired it, and he did it.
14 Therefore, he will finish that which is necessary for me; and there are many such things in him.
15 Therefore, I shall fear before his face; I shall consider, and I shall fear him.
16 For God has made my heart tender, and the Almighty has frightened me.
17 Why was I not cut off before the darkness, neither has he covered my face with the darkness.
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