Job’s Discourse on the Wicked
1 Then Job answered and said:
2 “Listen carefully to my speech,
And let this be your consolation.
3 Bear with me that I may speak,
# And after I have spoken, keepmocking.
4 “As for me,ismy complaint against man?
And ifitwere,why should I not be impatient?
5 Look at me and be astonished;
# Putyourhand overyourmouth.
6 Even when I remember I am terrified,
And trembling takes hold of my flesh.
7 Why do the wicked liveandbecome old,
Yes, become mighty in power?
8 Their descendants are established with them in their sight,
And their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their housesaresafe from fear,
# Neitheristhe rod of God upon them.
10 Their bull breeds without failure;
# Their cow calveswithout miscarriage.
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock,
And their children dance.
12 They sing to the tambourine and harp,
And rejoice to the sound of the flute.
13 Theyspend their days in wealth,
And in a moment go down to the grave.
14 Yet they say to God, ‘Depart from us,
For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways.
15 Whoisthe Almighty, that we should serve Him?
# Andwhat profit do we have if we pray to Him?’
16 Indeed their prosperityisnot in their hand;
# The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17 “How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?
Howoftendoes their destruction come upon them,
# The sorrowsGoddistributes in His anger?
18 They are like straw before the wind,
And like chaff that a storm carries away.
19 Theysay,‘God lays up one’s iniquityfor his children’;
Let Him recompense him, that he may knowit.
20 Let his eyes see his destruction,
# Andlet him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what does he care about his household after him,
When the number of his months is cut in half?
22 “Cananyoneteach God knowledge,
Since He judges those on high?
23 One dies in his full strength,
Being wholly at ease and secure;
24 His pails are full of milk,
And the marrow of his bones is moist.
25 Another man dies in the bitterness of his soul,
Never having eaten with pleasure.
26 Theylie down alike in the dust,
And worms cover them.
27 “Look, I know your thoughts,
And the schemeswithwhichyou would wrong me.
28 For you say,
‘Whereisthe house of the prince?
And whereisthe tent,
The dwelling place of the wicked?’
29 Have you not asked those who travel the road?
And do you not know their signs?
30 For the wicked are reserved for the day of doom;
They shall be brought out on the day of wrath.
31 Who condemns his way to his face?
And who repays himforwhathe has done?
32 Yet he shall be brought to the grave,
And a vigil kept over the tomb.
33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him;
# Everyone shall follow him,
As countlesshavegonebefore him.
34 How then can you comfort me with empty words,
Since falsehood remains in your answers?”