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Job Replies: The Wicked Do Prosper
21 But Job answered:
2 “Listen carefully to my speech,
and let this be your consolation.
3 Bear with me that I may speak,
and after I have spoken, mock on.
4 “As for me, is my complaint against man?
And if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?
5 Look at me and be astonished,
and put your hand over your mouth.
6 Even when I remember I am afraid,
and trembling takes hold of my body.
7 Why do the wicked live and become old;
yes, become mighty in power?
8 Their descendants are established with them in their sight,
and their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their houses are safe from fear,
nor is the rod of God upon them.
10 Their bull breeds without failure;
their cow gives calves without miscarriage.
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock,
and their children dance.
12 They take up the tambourine and harp
and rejoice at the sound of the flute.
13 They spend their days in wealth,
and in a moment go down to Sheol.
14 Therefore they say to God, ‘Depart from us,
for we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways.
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him?
And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?’
16 Indeed, their prosperity is not in their hand.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17 “How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?
How often does their destruction come upon them,
the sorrows God distributes in His anger?
18 They are like straw before the wind,
and like chaff that a storm carries away.
19 God stores up their iniquity for their children;
let Him reward the people themselves, and they will know it.
20 Let their eyes see their own destruction,
and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what do they care about their households after them,
when the number of their months is cut off?
22 “Can anyone teach God knowledge,
since He judges those who are on high?
23 One dies in his full strength,
being wholly at ease and secure.
24 His pails are full of milk,
and the marrow of his bones is moist.
25 Another dies in the bitterness of his soul,
never having eaten with pleasure.
26 They will lie down alike in the dust,
and worms will cover them.
27 “Behold, I know your thoughts,
and the schemes with which you would wrong me.
28 For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince?
And where are the dwelling places of the wicked?’
29 Have you not asked them who travel the road?
And do you not know their signs?
30 For the wicked are reserved for the day of destruction;
they will be brought forth on the day of wrath.
31 Who will declare his way to his face?
And who will repay him for what he has done?
32 Yet will he be brought to the grave
and will remain in the tomb.
33 The clods of the valley will be sweet unto him;
and everyone will follow him,
as countless have gone before.
34 “How then can you comfort me with emptiness,
since deceit remains in your answers?”
Eliphaz Speaks: Job’s Wickedness Is Great
22 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
2 “Can a man be profitable to God,
as he who is wise may be profitable to himself?
3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous?
Or is it gain to Him that you make your ways blameless?
4 “Is it because of your fear of Him that He corrects you,
and enters into judgment with you?
5 Is not your wickedness great,
and your iniquity infinite?
6 For you have taken a pledge from your brother for nothing,
and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 You have not given water to the weary to drink,
and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
8 But as for the mighty man, he possessed the earth,
and the honorable man lived in it.
9 You have sent widows away empty,
and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.
10 Therefore snares are all around you,
and sudden fear troubles you,
11 or darkness, so that you cannot see;
and an abundance of waters covers you.
12 “Is not God in the height of heaven?
And see the height of the stars, how high they are!
13 And you say, ‘What does God know?
Can He judge through the dark cloud?
14 Thick clouds are His covering, so He cannot see;
and He walks above the circle of heaven.’
15 Will you keep to the old way,
that wicked men have trod?
16 They were cut down before their time;
their foundations were swept away by a flood.
17 They said to God, ‘Depart from us,’
and, ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’
18 Yet He filled their houses with good things;
but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
19 “The righteous see it and are glad,
and the innocent laugh them to scorn:
20 ‘Surely our adversaries are cut down,
and the fire consumes their remnant.’
21 “Now acquaint yourself with Him and be at peace;
thereby good will come to you.
22 Receive, I pray, the teaching from His mouth,
and lay up His words in your heart.
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up;
you will put away iniquity far from your tents.
24 Then you will lay up gold as dust,
and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.
25 Yes, the Almighty will be your gold
and your precious silver;
26 for then you will delight yourself in the Almighty,
and will lift up your face unto God.
27 You will make your prayer to Him, and He will hear you,
and you will pay your vows.
28 You will also declare a matter, and it will be established unto you;
and the light will shine upon your ways.
29 When men are cast down, and you say, ‘There is a time of exaltation!’
then He will save the humble person.
30 He will even deliver one who is not innocent;
he will be delivered by the purity of your hands.”
Job Replies: My Complaint Is Grievous
23 Then Job answered:
2 “Today also my complaint is bitter;
my hand is heavy because of my groaning.
3 Oh, that I knew where I might find Him,
that I might come even to His seat!
4 I would present my case before Him
and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would know the words that He would answer me
and understand what He would say to me.
6 Will He plead against me with His great power?
No! But He would take note of me.
7 There the righteous might dispute with Him;
so would I be delivered forever from my Judge.
8 “Look, I go forward, but He is not there,
and backward, but I cannot perceive Him;
9 when He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him;
He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him.
10 But He knows the way that I take;
when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
11 My foot has held fast to His steps;
I have kept His way and have not turned aside.
12 I have not departed from the commandment of His lips;
I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.
13 “But He is resolute, and who can turn Him?
And whatever His soul desires, that He does.
14 For He performs what is appointed for me,
and many such things are with Him.
15 Therefore I am troubled at His presence;
when I consider, I am afraid of Him.
16 For God makes my heart soft,
and the Almighty troubles me;
17 because I was not cut off from the presence of darkness,
nor has He covered the darkness from my face.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.