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Job Speaks: Comfort Me by Listening to Me

21 Then Job replied to his friends,

“Listen carefully to my words,
    and let that be the comfort you offer me.
Bear with me while I speak.
    Then after I’ve spoken, you may go on mocking.
Am I complaining about a person?
    Why shouldn’t I be impatient?
Look at me, and be shocked,
    and put your hand over your mouth.
When I remember it, I’m terrified,
    and shuddering seizes my body.

Wicked People Do Not Suffer for Their Sins

“Why do the wicked go on living, grow old,
    and even become more powerful?
        They see their children firmly established with them,
            and they get to see their descendants.
        Their homes are free from fear,
            and Eloah doesn’t use his rod on them.
10 Their bulls are fertile when they breed.
    Their cows give birth to calves and never miscarry.
11 They send their little children out to play
    like a flock of lambs,
        and their children dance around.
12 They sing with the tambourine and lyre,
    and they are happy with the music of the flute.
13 They spend their days in happiness,
    and they go peacefully to the grave.
14 But they say to El,
    ‘Leave us alone.
    We don’t want to know your ways.
15 Who is Shadday that we should serve him?
    What do we gain if we pray to him?’
16 Anyhow, isn’t their happiness in their own power?
    (The plan of the wicked is foreign to my way of thinking.)

17 “How often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?
    How often does disaster happen to them?
    How often does an angry God give them pain?
18 How often are they like straw in the wind
    or like husks that the storm sweeps away?

19 “You say, ‘Eloah saves a person’s punishment for his children.’
    Eloah should pay back that person
        so that he would know that it is a punishment.
20 His eyes should see his own ruin.
    He should drink from the wrath of Shadday.
21 How can he be interested in his family after he’s gone,
    when the number of his months is cut short?

No One Understands How God Deals with Humans

22 “Can anyone teach El knowledge?
    Can anyone judge the Most High?
23 One person dies in his prime
    and feels altogether happy and contented.
24 His stomach is full of milk,
    and his bones are strong and healthy.
25 Another person, never having tasted happiness,
    dies with a bitter soul.
26 Together they lie down in the dust,
    and worms cover them.

My Friends Have Betrayed Me

27 “You see, I know your thoughts
    and the schemes you plot against me
28 because you ask,
    ‘Where is the house of the influential person?
        Where is the tent where wicked people live?’
29 Haven’t you asked travelers?
    But you didn’t pay attention to their directions.
30 On the day of disaster the wicked person is spared.
    On the day of God’s anger he is rescued.
31 Who will tell him to his face how he lived?
    Who will pay him back for what he did?
32 He is carried to the cemetery,
    and his grave is guarded.
33 The soil in the creekbed is sweet to him.
    Everyone follows him.
    Countless others went before him.
34 How can you comfort me with this nonsense
    when your answers continue to betray me?”

Job

21 Then Job replied:

“Listen carefully to my words;(A)
    let this be the consolation you give me.(B)
Bear with me while I speak,
    and after I have spoken, mock on.(C)

“Is my complaint(D) directed to a human being?
    Why should I not be impatient?(E)
Look at me and be appalled;
    clap your hand over your mouth.(F)
When I think about this, I am terrified;(G)
    trembling seizes my body.(H)
Why do the wicked live on,
    growing old and increasing in power?(I)
They see their children established around them,
    their offspring before their eyes.(J)
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)

34 “So how can you console me(BE) with your nonsense?
    Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”(BF)

Footnotes

  1. Job 21:13 Or in an instant
  2. Job 21:24 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  3. Job 21:30 Or wicked are reserved for the day of calamity, / that they are brought forth to
  4. Job 21:33 Or them, / as a countless throng went