| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Then Job spoke again: | 1Then Job answered: |
| 2“Listen closely to what I am saying. That’s one consolation you can give me. | 2“Listen carefully to my words; let this be your consolation to me. |
| 3Bear with me, and let me speak. After I have spoken, you may resume mocking me. | 3Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking. |
| 4“My complaint is with God, not with people. I have good reason to be so impatient. | 4Is my complaint against a man? Then why should I not be impatient? |
| 5Look at me and be stunned. Put your hand over your mouth in shock. | 5Look at me and be appalled; put your hand over your mouth. |
| 6When I think about what I am saying, I shudder. My body trembles. | 6When I remember, terror takes hold, and my body trembles in horror. |
| 7“Why do the wicked prosper, growing old and powerful? | 7Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? |
| 8They live to see their children grow up and settle down, and they enjoy their grandchildren. | 8Their descendants are established around them, and their offspring before their eyes. |
| 9Their homes are safe from every fear, and God does not punish them. | 9Their homes are safe from fear; no rod of punishment from God is upon them. |
| 10Their bulls never fail to breed. Their cows bear calves and never miscarry. | 10Their bulls breed without fail; their cows bear calves and do not miscarry. |
| 11They let their children frisk about like lambs. Their little ones skip and dance. | 11They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about, |
| 12They sing with tambourine and harp. They celebrate to the sound of the flute. | 12singing to the tambourine and lyre and making merry at the sound of the flute. |
| 13They spend their days in prosperity, then go down to the grave in peace. | 13They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace. |
| 14And yet they say to God, ‘Go away. We want no part of you and your ways. | 14Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways. |
| 15Who is the Almighty, and why should we obey him? What good will it do us to pray?’ | 15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’ |
| 16(They think their prosperity is of their own doing, but I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking.) | 16Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked. |
| 17“Yet the light of the wicked never seems to be extinguished. Do they ever have trouble? Does God distribute sorrows to them in anger? | 17How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? Does disaster come upon them? Does God, in His anger, apportion destruction? |
| 18Are they driven before the wind like straw? Are they carried away by the storm like chaff? Not at all! | 18Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm? |
| 19“‘Well,’ you say, ‘at least God will punish their children!’ But I say he should punish the ones who sin, so that they understand his judgment. | 19It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children. Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it. |
| 20Let them see their destruction with their own eyes. Let them drink deeply of the anger of the Almighty. | 20Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty. |
| 21For they will not care what happens to their family after they are dead. | 21For what does he care about his household after him, when the number of his months has run out? |
| 22“But who can teach a lesson to God, since he judges even the most powerful? | 22Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since He judges those on high? |
| 23One person dies in prosperity, completely comfortable and secure, | 23One man dies full of vigor, completely secure and at ease. |
| 24the picture of good health, vigorous and fit. | 24His body is well nourished, and his bones are rich with marrow. |
| 25Another person dies in bitter poverty, never having tasted the good life. | 25Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, having never tasted prosperity. |
| 26But both are buried in the same dust, both eaten by the same maggots. | 26But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both. |
| 27“Look, I know what you’re thinking. I know the schemes you plot against me. | 27Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me. |
| 28You will tell me of rich and wicked people whose houses have vanished because of their sins. | 28For you say, ‘Where now is the nobleman’s house, and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell?’ |
| 29But ask those who have been around, and they will tell you the truth. | 29Have you never asked those who travel the roads? Do you not accept their reports? |
| 30Evil people are spared in times of calamity and are allowed to escape disaster. | 30Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath. |
| 31No one criticizes them openly or pays them back for what they have done. | 31Who denounces his behavior to his face? Who repays him for what he has done? |
| 32When they are carried to the grave, an honor guard keeps watch at their tomb. | 32He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb. |
| 33A great funeral procession goes to the cemetery. Many pay their respects as the body is laid to rest, and the earth gives sweet repose. | 33The clods of the valley are sweet to him; everyone follows behind him, and those before him are without number. |
| 34“How can your empty clichés comfort me? All your explanations are lies!” | 34So how can you comfort me with empty words? For your answers remain full of falsehood.” |
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