International Standard Version | New International Version |
1In response, Job said: | 1Then Job replied: |
2"Listen carefully to my words; let this encourage all of you. | 2"Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you give me. |
3Bear with me and let me speak! Then, after I've spoken, you'll be free to mock me. | 3Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on. |
4After all, isn't my complaint against a human being? If so, why shouldn't I be impatient? | 4"Is my complaint directed to a human being? Why should I not be impatient? |
5Look at me, be appalled, and then shut up! | 5Look at me and be appalled; clap your hand over your mouth. |
6When I think about this, I'm petrified with terror and my body shudders uncontrollably." | 6When I think about this, I am terrified; trembling seizes my body. |
7"Why do the wicked live to reach old age and increase in power and wealth, too? | 7Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? |
8Their children grow up while they're alive, and they live to see their grandchildren. | 8They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes. |
9Their houses are safe from fear, and God's chastisement never visits them. | 9Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not on them. |
10Their bull breeds without fail, and their cows calve without miscarriages. | 10Their bulls never fail to breed; their cows calve and do not miscarry. |
11They release their children to play like sheep; their young ones dance about, | 11They send forth their children as a flock; their little ones dance about. |
12singing with tambourines and lyres as they rejoice to the sound of flutes. | 12They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre; they make merry to the sound of the pipe. |
13They grow old in prosperity, as they descend peacefully into the afterlife. | 13They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace. |
14"They say to God, 'Turn away from us! 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? Where's the profit in talking to him?' | 15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him?' |
16Behold! Their prosperity isn't in their control! The counsel of the wicked will remain far from me." | 16But their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked. |
17"How often do the wicked have their lights put out? Does calamity ever fall on them? Will God in his anger ever apportion their 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? |
18May they become like a straw, blown away before the wind; like a chaff that's swept off by a storm. | 18How often are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a gale? |
19God stores up their iniquity to repay their children; making them repay so that they may be aware. | 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! |
20Their own eyes will see their destruction; and they'll drink the wrath of the Almighty. | 20Let their own eyes see their destruction; let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty. |
21What will they care for their household after them, when the number of his months comes to an end?" | 21For what do they care about the families they leave behind when their allotted months come to an end? |
22"Can God learn anything? After all, he will judge even the exalted ones. | 22"Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since he judges even the highest? |
23Such persons will die in their full vigor, completely prosperous and secure. | 23One person dies in full vigor, completely secure and at ease, |
24His buckets are filled with milk, his bone marrow is healthy. | 24well nourished in body, bones rich with marrow. |
25Others die with a bitter soul, never having tasted the good life. | 25Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good. |
26They both lie down in the dust; and worms cover them." | 26Side by side they lie in the dust, and worms cover them both. |
27"Look! I know your thoughts, your plans are going to harm me. | 27"I know full well what you are thinking, the schemes by which you would wrong me. |
28You ask, 'Where is the noble person's house?' and 'Where are the tents where the wicked live?' | 28You say, 'Where now is the house of the great, the tents where the wicked lived?' |
29Haven't you asked travelers on the highway? Don't you accept their word | 29Have you never questioned those who travel? Have you paid no regard to their accounts-- |
30that the wicked person is spared from times of calamity, that he is rescued on the day of wrath? | 30that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity, that they are delivered from the day of wrath? |
31Who will expose his conduct to his face? Who will repay him for what he has done | 31Who denounces their conduct to their face? Who repays them for what they have done? |
32when he is carried away to the cemetery and guardians are placed to watch his tomb? | 32They are carried to the grave, and watch is kept over their tombs. |
33The runoff from the streams will seem sweet to him; everyone will follow after him; countless crows march ahead of him. | 33The soil in the valley is sweet to them; everyone follows after them, and a countless throng goes before them. |
34How then, can you console me so worthlessly? What is left of your answers is treachery." | 34"So how can you console me with your nonsense? Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!" |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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