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Job 21
International Standard Version
Job 21
International Standard Version
Job Reasons with Zophar
21 In response, Job said:
2 “Listen carefully to my words;
let this encourage all of you.
3 Bear with me and let me speak!
Then, after I’ve spoken, you’ll be free to mock me.
4 After all, isn’t my complaint against a human being?
If so, why shouldn’t I be impatient?
5 Look at me, be appalled,
and then shut up!
6 When I think about this,[a] I’m petrified with terror
and my body shudders uncontrollably.”
The Wicked Prospers
7 “Why do the wicked live to reach old age
and increase in power and wealth, too?
8 Their children grow up while they’re alive,
and they live to see their grandchildren.
9 Their houses are safe from fear,
and God’s chastisement[b] never visits them.
10 Their bull breeds without fail,
and their cows calve without miscarriages.
11 They release their children to play like sheep;
their young ones[c] dance about,
12 singing[d] with tambourines and lyres
as they rejoice to the sound of flutes.
13 They grow old[e] in prosperity,
as they descend peacefully into the afterlife.[f]
14 “They say to God, ‘Turn away from us!
We have no desire to know your ways.
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
Where’s the profit in talking to him?’
16 Behold! Their prosperity isn’t in their control!
The counsel of the wicked will remain far from me.”
God will Punish the Wicked
17 “How often do the wicked have their lights put out?
Does calamity ever fall on them?
Will God[g] in his anger ever apportion their destruction?
18 May they become like a straw,
blown away before the wind;
like a chaff that’s swept off by a storm.
19 God stores up their iniquity to repay their children;
making them[h] repay so that they may be aware.
20 Their own eyes will see their destruction;
and they’ll drink the wrath of the Almighty.
21 What will they care for their household after them,
when the number of his months comes to an end?”
Death Levels Everyone
22 “Can God learn anything?
After all, he will judge even the exalted ones.
23 Such persons will die in their full vigor,
completely prosperous and secure.
24 His buckets are filled with milk,
his bone marrow is healthy.[i]
25 Others die with a bitter soul,
never having tasted the good life.[j]
26 They both lie down in the dust;
and worms[k] cover them.”
Job Suspects His Friends of Treachery
27 “Look! I know your thoughts,
your plans[l] are going to harm me.
28 You ask, ‘Where is the noble person’s house?’
and ‘Where are the tents where the wicked live?’
29 Haven’t you asked travelers on the highway?
Don’t you accept their word
30 that the wicked person is spared from times of calamity,
that he is rescued on the day of wrath?
31 Who will expose his conduct to his face?
Who will repay him for what he has done
32 when he is carried away to the cemetery
and guardians are placed to watch his tomb?
33 The runoff from the streams will seem sweet to him;
everyone will follow after him;
countless crows march ahead of him.
34 How then, can you console me so worthlessly?
What is left of your answers is treachery.”
Footnotes
- Job 21:6 The Heb. lacks of this
- Job 21:9 Lit. rod
- Job 21:11 Or children
- Job 21:12 Lit. they take up
- Job 21:13 Lit. wear out their days
- Job 21:13 Lit. Sheol; i.e. the abode of the dead
- Job 21:17 Lit. he
- Job 21:19 Lit. him
- Job 21:24 Lit. moist
- Job 21:25 The Heb. lacks life
- Job 21:26 Lit. and a worm
- Job 21:27 Or purposes
Job 21
New International Version
Job 21
New International Version
Job
21 Then Job replied:
2 “Listen carefully to my words;(A)
let this be the consolation you give me.(B)
3 Bear with me while I speak,
and after I have spoken, mock on.(C)
4 “Is my complaint(D) directed to a human being?
Why should I not be impatient?(E)
5 Look at me and be appalled;
clap your hand over your mouth.(F)
6 When I think about this, I am terrified;(G)
trembling seizes my body.(H)
7 Why do the wicked live on,
growing old and increasing in power?(I)
8 They see their children established around them,
their offspring before their eyes.(J)
9 Their homes are safe and free from fear;(K)
the rod of God is not on them.(L)
10 Their bulls never fail to breed;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.(M)
11 They send forth their children as a flock;(N)
their little ones dance about.
12 They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre;(O)
they make merry to the sound of the pipe.(P)
13 They spend their years in prosperity(Q)
and go down to the grave(R) in peace.[a](S)
14 Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone!(T)
We have no desire to know your ways.(U)
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
What would we gain by praying to him?’(V)
16 But their prosperity is not in their own hands,
so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.(W)
17 “Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?(X)
How often does calamity(Y) come upon them,
the fate God allots in his anger?(Z)
18 How often are they like straw before the wind,
like chaff(AA) swept away(AB) by a gale?(AC)
19 It is said, ‘God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.’(AD)
Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it!(AE)
20 Let their own eyes see their destruction;(AF)
let them drink(AG) the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.(AH)
21 For what do they care about the families they leave behind(AI)
when their allotted months(AJ) come to an end?(AK)
22 “Can anyone teach knowledge to God,(AL)
since he judges even the highest?(AM)
23 One person dies in full vigor,(AN)
completely secure and at ease,(AO)
24 well nourished(AP) in body,[b]
bones(AQ) rich with marrow.(AR)
25 Another dies in bitterness of soul,(AS)
never having enjoyed anything good.
26 Side by side they lie in the dust,(AT)
and worms(AU) cover them both.(AV)
27 “I know full well what you are thinking,
the schemes by which you would wrong me.
28 You say, ‘Where now is the house of the great,(AW)
the tents where the wicked lived?’(AX)
29 Have you never questioned those who travel?
Have you paid no regard to their accounts—
30 that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity,(AY)
that they are delivered from[c] the day of wrath?(AZ)
31 Who denounces their conduct to their face?
Who repays them for what they have done?(BA)
32 They are carried to the grave,
and watch is kept over their tombs.(BB)
33 The soil in the valley is sweet to them;(BC)
everyone follows after them,
and a countless throng goes[d] before them.(BD)
International Standard Version (ISV) 
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New International Version (NIV) 
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