New Living Translation

Holman Christian Standard Bible

1Then Job spoke again:

1Then Job answered:

2“Listen closely to what I am saying. That’s one consolation you can give me.

2Pay close attention to my words; let this be the consolation you offer.

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 continue mocking.

4“My complaint is with God, not with people. I have good reason to be so impatient.

4As for me, is my complaint against a man? Then why shouldn't I be impatient?

5Look at me and be stunned. Put your hand over your mouth in shock.

5Look at me and shudder; put your hand over your mouth.

6When I think about what I am saying, I shudder. My body trembles.

6When I think about it, I am terrified and my body trembles in horror.

7“Why do the wicked prosper, growing old and powerful?

7Why do the wicked continue to live, growing old and becoming powerful?

8They live to see their children grow up and settle down, and they enjoy their grandchildren.

8Their children are established while they are still alive, and their descendants, before their eyes.

9Their homes are safe from every fear, and God does not punish them.

9Their homes are secure and free of fear; no rod from God strikes them.

10Their bulls never fail to breed. Their cows bear calves and never miscarry.

10Their bulls breed without fail; their cows calve and do not miscarry.

11They let their children frisk about like lambs. Their little ones skip and dance.

11They let their little ones run around like lambs; 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 rejoicing 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! We don't want 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 will we gain by pleading with Him?"

16(They think their prosperity is of their own doing, but I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking.)

16But their prosperity is not of their own doing. The counsel of the wicked is far from me!

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 on them? Does He apportion destruction in His anger?

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 a storm sweeps away?

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.

19God reserves a person's punishment for his children. Let God repay the person himself, so that he may know it.

20Let them see their destruction with their own eyes. Let them drink deeply of the anger of the Almighty.

20Let his own eyes see his demise; let him drink from the Almighty's wrath!

21For they will not care what happens to their family after they are dead.

21For what does he care about his family once he is dead, 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 God knowledge, since He judges the exalted ones?

23One person dies in prosperity, completely comfortable and secure,

23One person dies in excellent health, completely secure and at ease.

24the picture of good health, vigorous and fit.

24His body is well fed, and his bones are full of marrow.

25Another person dies in bitter poverty, never having tasted the good life.

25Yet another person dies with a bitter soul, having never tasted prosperity.

26But both are buried in the same dust, both eaten by the same maggots.

26But they both lie in the dust, and worms cover them.

27“Look, I know what you’re thinking. I know the schemes you plot against me.

27I know your thoughts very well, the schemes you would wrong me with.

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 the wicked lived in?"

29But ask those who have been around, and they will tell you the truth.

29Have you never consulted those who travel the roads? Don't you 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 disaster, rescued from the day of wrath.

31No one criticizes them openly or pays them back for what they have done.

31Who would denounce his behavior to his face? Who would repay 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 someone keeps watch 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 dirt on his grave is sweet to him. Everyone follows behind him, and those who go before him are without number.

34“How can your empty clichés comfort me? All your explanations are lies!”

34So how can you offer me such futile comfort? Your answers are deceptive.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.