Job 21:1-34 NKJV

[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, keep mocking. [4] "As for me, is my complaint against man? And if it were, why should I not be impatient? [5] Look at me and be astonished; Put your hand over your mouth. [6] Even when I remember I am terrified, And trembling takes hold of my flesh. [7] Why do the wicked live and become old, Yes, become mighty in power? [8] Their descendants are established with them in their sight, And their offspring before their eyes. [9] Their houses are safe from fear, Neither is the rod of God upon them. [10] Their bull breeds without failure; Their cow calves without 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] They spend 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] Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?' [16] Indeed their prosperity is not in their hand; The counsel of the wicked is far from me. [17] "How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? How often does their destruction come upon them, The sorrows God distributes in His anger? [18] They are like straw before the wind, And like chaff that a storm carries away. [19] They say, 'God lays up one's iniquity for his children'; Let Him recompense him, that he may know it. [20] Let his eyes see his destruction, And let 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] "Can anyone teach 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] They lie down alike in the dust, And worms cover them. [27] "Look, I know your thoughts, And the schemes with which you would wrong me. [28] For you say, 'Where is the house of the prince? And where is the 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 him for what he 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 countless have gone before him. [34] How then can you comfort me with empty words, Since falsehood remains in your answers?"