1Then Job answered:
1And Job answered and said:
2“Listen carefully to my words;
let this be your consolation to me.
2“Listen carefully to my speech, and let this be your consolation.
3Bear with me while I speak;
then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.
3Bear with me, and I will speak; and after I have spoken, you may mock.
4Is my complaint against a man?
Then why should I not be impatient?
4As for me, is my complaint against man? And if so, why should not my spirit be short?
5Look at me and be appalled;
put your hand over your mouth.
5Turn to me and be appalled, and put a hand over your mouth.
6When I remember, terror takes hold,
and my body trembles in horror.
6Even when I remember, then I am terrified, and trembling seizes my flesh.
7Why do the wicked live on,
growing old and increasing in power?
7Why do the wicked live on, growing old, even becoming mighty in power?
8Their descendants are established around them,
and their offspring before their eyes.
8Their seed is established with them before their face, and their offspring before their eyes.
9Their homes are safe from fear;
no rod of punishment from God is upon them.
9Their houses are safe from dread, and the rod of God is not upon them.
10Their bulls breed without fail;
their cows bear calves and do not miscarry.
10His bull passes over, without fail; his cow brings forth, and does not miscarry.
11They send forth their little ones like a flock;
their children skip about,
11They send forth their little boys like a flock, and their children skip about.
12singing to the tambourine and lyre
and making merry at the sound of the flute.
12They lift up to the tambourine and harp, and they rejoice at the sound of the flute.
13They spend their days in prosperity
and go down to Sheol in peace.a
13They wear out their days in prosperity, and in peace go down to Sheol.
14Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone!
For we have no desire to know Your ways.
14And they said to God, ‘Turn away from us! For we do not delight to know Your ways.
15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him,
and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’
15What is Shaddai that we should serve Him? And what do we gain that we should meet with Him?’
16Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands,
so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.
16Behold, their own good is not in their hand; the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?
Does disaster come upon them?
Does God, in His anger, apportion destruction?
17How often is the lamp of the wicked put out, and their destruction comes upon them? The pains He apportions in His anger.
18Are they like straw before the wind,
like chaff swept away by a storm?
18They become like straw before the face of the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries him away.
19It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children.
Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it.
19Does God store up for his sons his trouble? Let Him repay to him, and he will know.
20Let his eyes see his own destruction;
let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.
20Let his eyes see his destruction, and let him drink from the wrath of Shaddai.
21For what does he care about his household after him,
when the number of his months has run out?
21For what is his delight in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off?
22Can anyone teach knowledge to God,
since He judges those on high?
22Can one teach knowledge to God, since He judges those being high?
23One man dies full of vigor,
completely secure and at ease.
23This one dies in the bone of his perfection, all of him at ease and at rest;
24His body is well nourished,a
and his bones are rich with marrow.
24his pails are full of milk, and the marrow of his bones is moist.
25Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul,
having never tasted prosperity.
25And this one dies bitter in soul, and not having eaten of the good.
26But together they lie down in the dust,
and worms cover them both.
26Together upon the dust they lie down, and the worm covers them over.
27Behold, I know your thoughts full well,
the schemes by which you would wrong me.
27Behold, I know your thoughts, and the notions you wrest upon me.
28For you say, ‘Where now is the nobleman’s house,
and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell?’
28For you say, ‘Where is the house of the noble? And where is the tent of the habitation of the wicked?’
29Have you never asked those who travel the roads?
Do you not accept their reports?
29Have you not asked those passing along the way, and do you not recognize their signs,
30Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity,
delivered from the day of wrath.
30that from a day of calamity the evil one is held back, and in the day of wrath they are brought forth?
31Who denounces his behavior to his face?
Who repays him for what he has done?
31Who shall declare his way to his face? And who will repay him for what he has done?
32He is carried to the grave,
and watch is kept over his tomb.
32When he is brought along to the graves, then one keeps watch over his tomb.
33The clods of the valley are sweet to him;
everyone follows behind him,
and those before him are without number.
33The clods of the torrent are sweet to him; and after him every man will extend, and those before his face are without number.
34So how can you comfort me with empty words?
For your answers remain full of falsehood.”
34And how can you comfort me in vain, and in your answers remains falsehood?”