Berean Study Bible | New International Version |
1Then Job answered: | 1Then Job replied: |
2“Listen carefully to my words; let this be your consolation to me. | 2"Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you give me. |
3Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking. | 3Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on. |
4Is my complaint against a man? Then why should I not be impatient? | 4"Is my complaint directed to a human being? Why should I not be impatient? |
5Look at me and be appalled; put your hand over your mouth. | 5Look at me and be appalled; clap your hand over your mouth. |
6When I remember, terror takes hold, and my body trembles in horror. | 6When I think about this, I am terrified; trembling seizes my body. |
7Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? | 7Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? |
8Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes. | 8They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes. |
9Their homes are safe from fear; no rod of punishment from God is upon them. | 9Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not on them. |
10Their bulls breed without fail; their cows bear calves and do not miscarry. | 10Their bulls never fail to breed; their cows calve and do not miscarry. |
11They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about, | 11They send forth their children as a flock; their little ones dance about. |
12singing to the tambourine and lyre and making merry at the sound of the flute. | 12They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre; they make merry to the sound of the pipe. |
13They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace. | 13They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace. |
14Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways. | 14Yet they say to God, 'Leave us alone! We have no desire to know your ways. |
15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’ | 15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him?' |
16Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked. | 16But their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked. |
17How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come upon them? Does God, in His anger, apportion destruction? | 17"Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out? How often does calamity come upon them, the fate God allots in his anger? |
18Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm? | 18How often are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a gale? |
19It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children. Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it. | 19It is said, 'God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.' Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it! |
20Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty. | 20Let their own eyes see their destruction; let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty. |
21For what does he care about his household after him, when the number of his months has run out? | 21For what do they care about the families they leave behind when their allotted months come to an end? |
22Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since He judges those on high? | 22"Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since he judges even the highest? |
23One man dies full of vigor, completely secure and at ease. | 23One person dies in full vigor, completely secure and at ease, |
24His body is well nourished, and his bones are rich with marrow. | 24well nourished in body, bones rich with marrow. |
25Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, having never tasted prosperity. | 25Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good. |
26But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both. | 26Side by side they lie in the dust, and worms cover them both. |
27Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me. | 27"I know full well what you are thinking, the schemes by which you would wrong me. |
28For you say, ‘Where now is the nobleman’s house, and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell?’ | 28You say, 'Where now is the house of the great, the tents where the wicked lived?' |
29Have you never asked those who travel the roads? Do you not accept their reports? | 29Have you never questioned those who travel? Have you paid no regard to their accounts-- |
30Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath. | 30that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity, that they are delivered from the day of wrath? |
31Who denounces his behavior to his face? Who repays him for what he has done? | 31Who denounces their conduct to their face? Who repays them for what they have done? |
32He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb. | 32They are carried to the grave, and watch is kept over their tombs. |
33The clods of the valley are sweet to him; everyone follows behind him, and those before him are without number. | 33The soil in the valley is sweet to them; everyone follows after them, and a countless throng goes before them. |
34So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood.” | 34"So how can you console me with your nonsense? Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!" |
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