Job 21:1-34 NCV

[1] Then Job answered: [2] "Listen carefully to my words, and let this be the way you comfort me. [3] Be patient while I speak. After I have finished, you may continue to make fun of me. [4] "My complaint is not just against people; I have reason to be impatient. [5] Look at me and be shocked; put your hand over your mouth in shock. [6] When I think about this, I am terribly afraid and my body shakes. [7] Why do evil people live a long time? They grow old and become more powerful. [8] They see their children around them; they watch them grow up. [9] Their homes are safe and without fear; God does not punish them. [10] Their bulls never fail to mate; their cows have healthy calves. [11] They send out their children like a flock; their little ones dance about. [12] They sing to the music of tambourines and harps, and the sound of the flute makes them happy. [13] Evil people enjoy successful lives and then go peacefully to the grave. [14] They say to God, 'Leave us alone! We don't want to know your ways. [15] Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him?' [16] The success of the wicked is not their own doing. Their way of thinking is different from mine. [17] Yet how often are the lamps of evil people turned off? How often does trouble come to them? How often do they suffer God's angry punishment? [18] How often are they like straw in the wind or like chaff that is blown away by a storm? [19] It is said, 'God saves up a person's punishment for his children.' But God should punish the wicked themselves so they will know it. [20] Their eyes should see their own destruction, and they should suffer the anger of the Almighty. [21] They do not care about the families they leave behind when their lives have come to an end. [22] "No one can teach knowledge to God; he is the one who judges even the most important people. [23] One person dies while he still has all his strength, feeling completely safe and comfortable. [24] His body was well fed, and his bones were strong and healthy. [25] But another person dies with an unhappy heart, never enjoying any happiness. [26] They are buried next to each other, and worms cover them both. [27] "I know very well your thoughts and your plans to wrong me. [28] You ask about me, 'Where is this great man's house? Where are the tents where the wicked live?' [29] Have you never asked those who travel? Have you never listened to their stories? [30] On the day of God's anger and punishment, it is the wicked who are spared. [31] Who will accuse them to their faces? Who will pay them back for the evil they have done? [32] They are carried to their graves, and someone keeps watch over their tombs. [33] The dirt in the valley seems sweet to them. Everybody follows after them, and many people go before them. [34] "So how can you comfort me with this nonsense? Your answers are only lies!"