Job 21 Parallel Bible Translations

Job 21 ▼
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1 Then Job spoke again: Then Job answered and said: Then Job replied:
2 “Listen closely to what I am saying. That’s one consolation you can give me. “Keep listening to my words, and let this be your comfort. “Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you give me.
3 Bear with me, and let me speak. After I have spoken, you may resume mocking me. Bear with me, and I will speak, and after I have spoken, mock on. Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.
4 “My complaint is with God, not with people. I have good reason to be so impatient. As for me, is my complaint against man? Why should I not be impatient? “Is my complaint directed to a human being? Why should I not be impatient?
5 Look at me and be stunned. Put your hand over your mouth in shock. Look at me and be appalled, and lay your hand over your mouth. Look at me and be appalled; clap your hand over your mouth.
6 When I think about what I am saying, I shudder. My body trembles. When I remember, I am dismayed, and shuddering seizes my flesh. When I think about this, I am terrified; trembling seizes my body.
7 “Why do the wicked prosper, growing old and powerful? Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow mighty in power? Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
8 They live to see their children grow up and settle down, and they enjoy their grandchildren. Their offspring are established in their presence, and their descendants before their eyes. They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their homes are safe from every fear, and God does not punish them. Their houses are safe from fear, and no rod of God is upon them. Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not on them.
10 Their bulls never fail to breed. Their cows bear calves and never miscarry. Their bull breeds without fail; their cow calves and does not miscarry. Their bulls never fail to breed; their cows calve and do not miscarry.
11 They let their children frisk about like lambs. Their little ones skip and dance. They send out their little boys like a flock, and their children dance. They send forth their children as a flock; their little ones dance about.
12 They sing with tambourine and harp. They celebrate to the sound of the flute. They sing to the tambourine and the lyre and rejoice to the sound of the pipe. They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre; they make merry to the sound of the pipe.
13 They spend their days in prosperity, then go down to the grave in peace. They spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol. They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace.
14 And yet they say to God, ‘Go away. We want no part of you and your ways. They say to God, ‘Depart from us! We do not desire the knowledge of your ways. Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone! We have no desire to know your ways.
15 Who is the Almighty, and why should we obey him? What good will it do us to pray?’ What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’ Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him?’
16 (They think their prosperity is of their own doing, but I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking.) Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand? The counsel of the wicked is far from me. But their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stand aloof from the plans 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? “How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out? That their calamity comes upon them? That God distributes pains in his anger? “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?
18 Are they driven before the wind like straw? Are they carried away by the storm like chaff? Not at all! That they are like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away? How often are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a gale?
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. You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’ Let him pay it out to them, that they may know it. It 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!
20 Let them see their destruction with their own eyes. Let them drink deeply of the anger of the Almighty. Let their own eyes see their destruction, and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty. Let their own eyes see their destruction; let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For they will not care what happens to their family after they are dead. For what do they care for their houses after them, when the number of their months is cut off? For what do they care about the families they leave behind when their allotted months come to an end?
22 “But who can teach a lesson to God, since he judges even the most powerful? Will any teach God knowledge, seeing that he judges those who are on high? “Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since he judges even the highest?
23 One person dies in prosperity, completely comfortable and secure, One dies in his full vigor, being wholly at ease and secure, One person dies in full vigor, completely secure and at ease,
24 the picture of good health, vigorous and fit. his pails full of milk and the marrow of his bones moist. well nourished in body, bones rich with marrow.
25 Another person dies in bitter poverty, never having tasted the good life. Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having tasted of prosperity. Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good.
26 But both are buried in the same dust, both eaten by the same maggots. They lie down alike in the dust, and the worms cover them. Side by side they lie in the dust, and worms cover them both.
27 “Look, I know what you’re thinking. I know the schemes you plot against me. “Behold, I know your thoughts and your schemes to wrong me. “I know full well what you are thinking, the schemes by which you would wrong me.
28 You will tell me of rich and wicked people whose houses have vanished because of their sins. For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’ You say, ‘Where now is the house of the great, the tents where the wicked lived?’
29 But ask those who have been around, and they will tell you the truth. Have you not asked those who travel the roads, and do you not accept their testimony Have you never questioned those who travel? Have you paid no regard to their accounts—
30 Evil people are spared in times of calamity and are allowed to escape disaster. that the evil man is spared in the day of calamity, that he is rescued in the day of wrath? that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity, that they are delivered from the day of wrath?
31 No one criticizes them openly or pays them back for what they have done. Who declares his way to his face, and who repays him for what he has done? Who denounces their conduct to their face? Who repays them for what they have done?
32 When they are carried to the grave, an honor guard keeps watch at their tomb. When he is carried to the grave, watch is kept over his tomb. They are carried to the grave, and watch is kept over their tombs.
33 A great funeral procession goes to the cemetery. Many pay their respects as the body is laid to rest, and the earth gives sweet repose. The clods of the valley are sweet to him; all mankind follows after him, and those who go before him are innumerable. The soil in the valley is sweet to them; everyone follows after them, and a countless throng goes before them.
34 “How can your empty clichés comfort me? All your explanations are lies!” How then will you comfort me with empty nothings? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.” “So how can you console me with your nonsense? Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”
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