Job 21

Job’s Reply to Zophar

¹Then Job answered:

²Pay close attention to my words;

let this be the consolation you offer.

³Bear with me while I speak;

then after I have spoken, you may continue mocking.

⁴As for me, is my complaint ^a against a human being?

Then why shouldn’t I be impatient?

⁵Look at me and shudder; ^b

put your hand over your mouth. ^c

⁶When I think about it, I am terrified

and my body trembles ^d in horror.

⁷Why do the wicked continue to live,

growing old and becoming powerful?

⁸Their children are established while they are still alive, ^e

and their descendants, before their eyes.

⁹Their homes are secure and free of fear; ^f

no rod from God strikes them. ^g

¹⁰Their bulls breed without fail;

their cows calve and do not miscarry.

¹¹They let their little ones run around like lambs;

their children skip about,

¹²singing to the tambourine and lyre

and rejoicing at the sound of the flute. ^h

¹³They spend ⁱ their days in prosperity ^j

and go down to Sheol in peace.

¹⁴Yet they say to God, “Leave us alone!

We don’t want to know your ways. ^k

¹⁵Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him,

and what will we gain by pleading with him? ” ^l

¹⁶But their prosperity is not of their own doing.

The counsel of the wicked is far from me! ^m

¹⁷How often is the lamp ⁿ of the wicked put out?

Does disaster ^o come on them?

Does he apportion destruction in his anger?

¹⁸Are they like straw before the wind,

like chaff ^p a storm sweeps away?

¹⁹God reserves a person’s punishment for his children. ^q

Let God repay the person himself, so that he may know it.

²⁰Let his own eyes see his demise;

let him drink from the Almighty’s wrath! ^r

²¹For what does he care about his family once he is dead, ^s

when the number of his months has run out? ^t

²²Can anyone teach God knowledge, ^u

since he judges the exalted ones? ^v

²³One person dies in excellent health, ^w

completely secure ^x and at ease.

²⁴His body is ^y well fed, ^z

and his bones are full of marrow. ^aa

²⁵Yet another person dies with a bitter ^ab soul,

having never tasted prosperity.

²⁶But they both lie in the dust,

and worms cover them. ^ac

²⁷I know your thoughts very well,

the schemes by which you would wrong me.

²⁸For you say, “Where now is the nobleman’s house? ”

and “Where are the tents ^ad the wicked lived in? ”

²⁹Have you never consulted those who travel the roads?

Don’t you accept their reports? ^ae

³⁰Indeed, the evil person is spared from the day of disaster,

rescued from the day of wrath.

³¹Who would denounce his behavior to his face?

Who would repay ^af him for what he has done?

³²He is carried to the grave,

and someone keeps watch over his tomb.

³³The dirt on his grave is ^ag sweet to him.

Everyone follows behind him,

and those who go before him are without number.

³⁴So how can you offer me such futile comfort?

Your answers are deceptive.