Job 21:1-34 AMP

[1] Then Job answered and said, [2] “Listen carefully to my speech, And let this be the consolation. [3] Bear with me, and I also will speak; And after I have spoken, you may [continue to] mock [me]. [4] As for me, is my complaint to man or about him? And why should I not be impatient and my spirit troubled? [5] Look at me and be astonished and appalled; And put your hand over your mouth. [6] Even when I remember, I am troubled and afraid; Horror and trembling take hold of my flesh. [7] Why do the wicked still live, Become old, and become mighty in power? [8] Their children and descendants are established with them in their sight, And their offspring before their eyes. [9] Their houses are safe from fear; And the rod of God is not on them. [10] His bull breeds and does not fail; His cow calves and does not miscarry. [11] They send forth their little ones like a flock, And their children skip about. [12] They lift up their voices and sing to the tambourine and the lyre And rejoice to the sound of the flute. [13] They fully enjoy their days in prosperity, And so go down to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) in a [peaceful] moment. [14] Yet they say to God, ‘Depart from us, For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways. [15] Who [and what] is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what would we gain if we plead with Him?’ [16] But notice, the prosperity of the wicked is not in their hand (in their power); The counsel of the wicked [and the mystery of God’s dealings with the ungodly] is far from my comprehension. [17] “How often [then] is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out, And that their disaster falls on them? Does God distribute pain and destruction and sorrow [to them] in His anger? [18] Are they like straw before the wind, And like chaff that the storm steals and carries away? [19] You say, ‘God stores away [the punishment of] man’s wickedness for his children.’ Let God repay him so that he may know and experience it. [20] Let his own eyes see his destruction, And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty. [21] For what pleasure does he have in his house and family after he is dead, When the number of his months [of life] is cut off? [22] Can anyone teach God knowledge, Seeing that He judges those on high? [23] One dies in his full strength, Being wholly at ease and quiet and satisfied; [24] His pails are full of milk [his sides are filled out with fat], And the marrow of his bones is moist, [25] Whereas another dies with a bitter soul, Never even tasting pleasure or good fortune. [26] Together they lie down in the dust, And the worms cover them. [27] “Behold, I know your thoughts, And the plots by which you would wrong me. [28] For you say, ‘Where is the house of the noble man? And where is the tent, the dwelling place of the wicked?’ [29] Have you not asked those who travel this way, And do you not recognize their witness? [30] That evil men are [now] reserved for the day of disaster and destruction, They will be led away on the day of [God’s] wrath? [31] But who will confront him with his actions and rebuke him face to face, And who will repay him for what he has done? [32] When he is carried to his grave, A guard will keep watch over his tomb. [33] The [dirt] clods of the valley are sweet to him [and gently cover him], Moreover, all men will follow after him [to a grave], While countless ones go before him. [34] How then can you vainly comfort me with empty words, Since your answers remain untrue?”