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. |
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 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 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, 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?" |