Job - Chapter 21 | New King James Version

  • 1. Then Job answered and said:
  • 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, keep mocking.
  • 4. "As for me, is my complaint against man? And if it were, why should I not be impatient?
  • 5. Look at me and be astonished; Put your hand over your mouth.
  • 6. Even when I remember I am terrified, And trembling takes hold of my flesh.
  • 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, Neither is the rod of God upon them.
  • 10. Their bull breeds without failure; Their cow calves without miscarriage.
  • 11. They send forth their little ones like a flock, And their children dance.
  • 12. They sing to the tambourine and harp, And rejoice to the sound of the flute.
  • 13. They spend their days in wealth, And in a moment go down to the grave. {cf2super [28]}
  • 14. Yet 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. They say, 'God lays up one's {cf2super [29]} iniquity for his children'; Let Him recompense him, that he may know it.
  • 20. Let his eyes see his destruction, And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
  • 21. For what does he care about his household after him, When the number of his months is cut in half?
  • 22. "Can anyone teach God knowledge, Since He judges those on high?
  • 23. One dies in his full strength, Being wholly at ease and secure;
  • 24. His pails {cf2super [30]} are full of milk, And the marrow of his bones is moist.
  • 25. Another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, Never having eaten with pleasure.
  • 26. They lie down alike in the dust, And worms cover them.
  • 27. "Look, 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 is the tent, {cf2super [31]} The dwelling place of the wicked?'
  • 29. Have you not asked those who travel the road? And do you not know their signs?
  • 30. For the wicked are reserved for the day of doom; They shall be brought out on the day of wrath.
  • 31. Who condemns his way to his face? And who repays him for what he has done?
  • 32. Yet he shall be brought to the grave, And a vigil kept over the tomb.
  • 33. The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him; Everyone shall follow him, As countless have gone before him.
  • 34. How then can you comfort me with empty words, Since falsehood remains in your answers?"
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