The Book of Job

Chapter-21

Job 21:1 Then Job responded by saying:

 

Job 21:2 I beseech you to hear my words and to do penance.

 

Job 21:3 Permit me, and I will speak, and afterwards, if you see fit, you can laugh at my words.

 

Job 21:4 Is my dispute against man, so that I would have no reason to be discouraged?

 

Job 21:5 Listen to me and be astonished, and place a finger over your mouth.

 

Job 21:6 As for me, when I think it over, I am afraid, and trembling convulses my body.

 

Job 21:7 Why then do the impious live, having been lifted up and strengthened with riches?

 

Job 21:8 They see their offspring continue before them: a commotion of close relatives and of children’s children in their sight.

 

Job 21:9 Their houses have been secure and peaceable, and there is no staff of God over them.

 

Job 21:10 Their cattle have conceived and have not miscarried; their cow has given birth and is not deprived of her newborn.

 

Job 21:11 Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children jump around playfully.

 

Job 21:12 They take up the timbrel and the lyre, and they rejoice at the sound of the organ.

 

Job 21:13 Their days are prolonged in wealth, yet, in an instant, they descend into hell.

 

Job 21:14 Who has said to God, “Depart from us, for we do not want the knowledge of your ways.

 

Job 21:15 Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? And how is it helpful to us if we pray to him?”

 

Job 21:16 It is true that their good things are not in their power. May the counsel of the impious be far from me!

 

Job 21:17 How often will the lamp of the wicked be extinguished, and a deluge overtake them, and how often will he distribute the afflictions of his wrath?

 

Job 21:18 They will be like chaff before the face of the wind, and like ashes that the whirlwind scatters.

 

Job 21:19 God will preserve the grief of the father for his sons, and, when he repays, then he will understand.

 

Job 21:20 His eyes will see his own destruction, and he will drink from the wrath of the Almighty.

 

Job 21:21 For what does he care what happens to his house after him, or if the number of its months are reduced by half?

 

Job 21:22 Can anyone teach holy knowledge to God, who judges the exalted?

 

Job 21:23 This one dies strong and healthy, rich and happy.

 

Job 21:24 His gut is full of fat and his bones are moistened with marrow.

 

Job 21:25 In truth, another dies in bitterness of soul, without any resources.

 

Job 21:26 And yet they will sleep together in the dust, and worms will cover them.

 

Job 21:27 Surely, I know your thoughts and your sinful judgments against me.

 

Job 21:28 For you say, “Where is the house of the ruler, and where are the tabernacles of the impious?”

 

Job 21:29 Ask any passerby whom you wish, and you will realize that he understands these same things:

 

Job 21:30 that the evil-doer is reserved for the day of destruction, and he will be led to the day of wrath.

 

Job 21:31 Who will reprove his way to his face, and who will repay him for what he has done?

 

Job 21:32 He will be led to the tomb, and he will remain awake in the chaos of the dead.

 

Job 21:33 He has been found acceptable to the banks of the River of Lamentation, and he will draw any man towards him, and there are countless before him.

 

Job 21:34 Therefore, how long will you console me in vain, when your answer is shown to be repugnant to truth?