Job 21 - Legacy Standard Bible

Job 21

God Does Not Punish the Wicked

Then Job answered and said, 2

“Listen carefully to my speech,

And let this be your way of consolation.

Bear with me that I may speak;

Then after I have spoken, you may mock.

As for me, is my musing to man?

And why should I not be impatient?

Look at me, and be appalled,

And put your hand over your mouth.

Even when I remember, I am dismayed,

And horror seizes my flesh.

Why do the wicked still live,

Continue on, also become very powerful?

Their seed is established with them in their presence,

And their offspring before their eyes,

Their houses are safe from dread,

And the rod of God is not on them.

His ox mates and does not fail;

His cow calves and does not miscarry.

They send forth their little ones like the flock,

And their children skip about.

They lift up the tambourine and harp

And are glad at the sound of the pipe.

They spend their days in prosperity,

And suddenly they go down to Sheol.

They say to God, ‘Depart from us!

We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways.

Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him,

And what would we profit if we entreat Him?’

Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand;

The counsel of the wicked is far from me.

“How often is the lamp of the wicked put out,

Or does their disaster fall on them?

Does God apportion destruction in His anger?

Are they as straw before the wind,

And like chaff which the storm steals away?

You say, ‘God stores away a man’s wickedness for his sons.’

Let God repay him so that he may know it.

Let his own eyes see his decay,

And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

For what desire does he have for his household after him,

When the number of his months is cut off?

Can anyone teach God knowledge,

In that He judges those on high?

One dies in his full strength,

Being wholly carefree and at ease;

His sides are filled out with fat,

And the marrow of his bones is moist,

But another dies with a bitter soul,

Never even eats anything good.

Together they lie down in the dust,

And worms cover them.

“Behold, I know your thoughts,

And the plans by which you do violence against me.

For you say, ‘Where is the house of the nobleman,

And where is the tent, the dwelling places of the wicked?’

Have you not asked those who pass by along the way,

And do you not recognize their witness?

That the wicked is reserved for the day of disaster;

They will be led forth at the day of fury.

Who will declare to his face about his actions,

And who will repay him for what he has done?

While he is led forth to the grave,

Men will keep watch over his tomb.

The clods of the valley will gently cover him;

Moreover, all men will draw up after him,

While countless ones go before him.

How then will you vainly comfort me,

Indeed when your answers remain full of falsehood?”