Job 21
Job Says God Will Deal with the Wicked
1Then Job answered,
2“Listen carefully to my speech,
And let this be your way of consolation.
3Bear with me that I may speak;
Then after I have spoken, you may mock.
4As for me, is my complaint to man?
And why should I not be impatient?
5Look at me, and be astonished,
And put your hand over your mouth.
6Even when I remember, I am disturbed,
And horror takes hold of my flesh.
7Why do the wicked still live,
Continue on, also become very powerful?
8Their descendants are established with them in their sight,
And their offspring before their eyes,
9Their houses are safe from fear,
And the rod of God is not on them.
10His ox mates without fail;
His cow calves and does not abort.
11They send forth their little ones like the flock,
And their children skip about.
12They sing to the timbrel and harp
And rejoice at the sound of the flute.
13They spend their days in prosperity,
And suddenly they go down to Sheol.
14They say to God, ‘Depart from us!
We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways.
15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him,
And what would we gain if we entreat Him?’
16Behold, 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,
Or does their calamity fall on them?
Does God apportion destruction in His anger?
18Are they as straw before the wind,
And like chaff which the storm carries away?
19You say, ‘God stores away a man’s iniquity for his sons.’
Let God repay him so that he may know it.
20Let his own eyes see his decay,
And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21For what does he care for his household after him,
When the number of his months is cut off?
22Can anyone teach God knowledge,
In that He judges those on high?
23One dies in his full strength,
Being wholly at ease and satisfied;
24His sides are filled out with fat,
And the marrow of his bones is moist,
25While another dies with a bitter soul,
Never even tasting anything good.
26Together they lie down in the dust,
And worms cover them.
27“Behold, I know your thoughts,
And the plans by which you would wrong me.
28For you say, ‘Where is the house of the nobleman,
And where is the tent, the dwelling places of the wicked?’
29Have you not asked wayfaring men,
And do you not recognize their witness?
30For the wicked is reserved for the day of calamity;
They will be led forth at the day of fury.
31Who will confront him with his actions,
And who will repay him for what he has done?
32While he is carried to the grave,
Men will keep watch over his tomb.
33The clods of the valley will gently cover him;
Moreover, all men will follow after him,
While countless ones go before him.
34How then will you vainly comfort me,
For your answers remain full of falsehood?”