Job 21-24

New International Version

² “Listen carefully to my words;^(A)
    let this be the consolation you give me.^(B)
3 Bear with me while I speak,
    and after I have spoken, mock on.^(C)

⁴ “Is my complaint^(D) directed to a human being?
    Why should I not be impatient?^(E)
5 Look at me and be appalled;
    clap your hand over your mouth.^(F)
6 When I think about this, I am terrified;^(G)
    trembling seizes my body.^(H)
7 Why do the wicked live on,
    growing old and increasing in power?^(I)
8 They see their children established around them,
    their offspring before their eyes.^(J)
9 Their homes are safe and free from fear;^(K)
    the rod of God is not on them.^(L)
10 Their bulls never fail to breed;
    their cows calve and do not miscarry.^(M)
11 They send forth their children as a flock;^(N)
    their little ones dance about.
¹² They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre;^(O)
    they make merry to the sound of the pipe.^(P)
13 They spend their years in prosperity^(Q)
    and go down to the grave^(R) in peace.^[a](S)
14 Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone!^(T)
    We have no desire to know your ways.^(U)
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
    What would we gain by praying to him?’^(V)
16 But their prosperity is not in their own hands,
    so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.^(W)

¹⁷ “Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?^(X)
    How often does calamity^(Y) come upon them,
    the fate God allots in his anger?^(Z)
18 How often are they like straw before the wind,
    like chaff^(AA) swept away^(AB) by a gale?^(AC)
19 It is said, ‘God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.’^(AD)
    Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it!^(AE)
20 Let their own eyes see their destruction;^(AF)
    let them drink^(AG) the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.^(AH)
21 For what do they care about the families they leave behind^(AI)
    when their allotted months^(AJ) come to an end?^(AK)

²² “Can anyone teach knowledge to God,^(AL)
    since he judges even the highest?^(AM)
23 One person dies in full vigor,^(AN)
    completely secure and at ease,^(AO)
24 well nourished^(AP) in body,^[b]
    bones^(AQ) rich with marrow.^(AR)
25 Another dies in bitterness of soul,^(AS)
    never having enjoyed anything good.
²⁶ Side by side they lie in the dust,^(AT)
    and worms^(AU) cover them both.^(AV)

²⁷ “I know full well what you are thinking,
    the schemes by which you would wrong me.
²⁸ You say, ‘Where now is the house of the great,^(AW)
    the tents where the wicked lived?’^(AX)
29 Have you never questioned those who travel?
    Have you paid no regard to their accounts—
³⁰ that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity,^(AY)
    that they are delivered from^[c] the day of wrath?^(AZ)
31 Who denounces their conduct to their face?
    Who repays them for what they have done?^(BA)
32 They are carried to the grave,
    and watch is kept over their tombs.^(BB)
33 The soil in the valley is sweet to them;^(BC)
    everyone follows after them,
    and a countless throng goes^[d] before them.^(BD)

³⁴ “So how can you console me^(BE) with your nonsense?
    Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”^(BF)

² “Can a man be of benefit to God?^(BH)
    Can even a wise person benefit him?^(BI)
3 What pleasure^(BJ) would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?^(BK)
    What would he gain if your ways were blameless?^(BL)

⁴ “Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
    and brings charges against you?^(BM)
5 Is not your wickedness great?
    Are not your sins^(BN) endless?^(BO)
6 You demanded security^(BP) from your relatives for no reason;^(BQ)
    you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.^(BR)
7 You gave no water^(BS) to the weary
    and you withheld food from the hungry,^(BT)
8 though you were a powerful man, owning land^(BU)—
    an honored man,^(BV) living on it.^(BW)
9 And you sent widows^(BX) away empty-handed^(BY)
    and broke the strength of the fatherless.^(BZ)
10 That is why snares^(CA) are all around you,^(CB)
    why sudden peril terrifies you,^(CC)
11 why it is so dark^(CD) you cannot see,
    and why a flood of water covers you.^(CE)

¹² “Is not God in the heights of heaven?^(CF)
    And see how lofty are the highest stars!
¹³ Yet you say, ‘What does God know?^(CG)
    Does he judge through such darkness?^(CH)
14 Thick clouds^(CI) veil him, so he does not see us^(CJ)
    as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’^(CK)
15 Will you keep to the old path
    that the wicked^(CL) have trod?^(CM)
16 They were carried off before their time,^(CN)
    their foundations^(CO) washed away by a flood.^(CP)
17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
    What can the Almighty do to us?’^(CQ)
18 Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,^(CR)
    so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.^(CS)
19 The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;^(CT)
    the innocent mock^(CU) them, saying,
²⁰ ‘Surely our foes are destroyed,^(CV)
    and fire^(CW) devours their wealth.’

²¹ “Submit to God and be at peace^(CX) with him;^(CY)
    in this way prosperity will come to you.^(CZ)
22 Accept instruction from his mouth^(DA)
    and lay up his words^(DB) in your heart.^(DC)
23 If you return^(DD) to the Almighty, you will be restored:^(DE)
    If you remove wickedness far from your tent^(DF)
24 and assign your nuggets^(DG) to the dust,
    your gold^(DH) of Ophir^(DI) to the rocks in the ravines,^(DJ)
25 then the Almighty will be your gold,^(DK)
    the choicest silver for you.^(DL)
26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty^(DM)
    and will lift up your face^(DN) to God.^(DO)
27 You will pray to him,^(DP) and he will hear you,^(DQ)
    and you will fulfill your vows.^(DR)
28 What you decide on will be done,^(DS)
    and light^(DT) will shine on your ways.^(DU)
29 When people are brought low^(DV) and you say, ‘Lift them up!’
    then he will save the downcast.^(DW)
30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent,^(DX)
    who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”^(DY)

² “Even today my complaint^(DZ) is bitter;^(EA)
    his hand^[e] is heavy in spite of^[f] my groaning.^(EB)
3 If only I knew where to find him;
    if only I could go to his dwelling!^(EC)
4 I would state my case^(ED) before him
    and fill my mouth with arguments.^(EE)
5 I would find out what he would answer me,^(EF)
    and consider what he would say to me.
⁶ Would he vigorously oppose me?^(EG)
    No, he would not press charges against me.^(EH)
7 There the upright^(EI) can establish their innocence before him,^(EJ)
    and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.^(EK)

⁸ “But if I go to the east, he is not there;
    if I go to the west, I do not find him.
⁹ When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
    when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.^(EL)
10 But he knows the way that I take;^(EM)
    when he has tested me,^(EN) I will come forth as gold.^(EO)
11 My feet have closely followed his steps;^(EP)
    I have kept to his way without turning aside.^(EQ)
12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;^(ER)
    I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.^(ES)

¹³ “But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?^(ET)
    He does whatever he pleases.^(EU)
14 He carries out his decree against me,
    and many such plans he still has in store.^(EV)
15 That is why I am terrified before him;^(EW)
    when I think of all this, I fear him.^(EX)
16 God has made my heart faint;^(EY)
    the Almighty^(EZ) has terrified me.^(FA)
17 Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,^(FB)
    by the thick darkness that covers my face.

24 “Why does the Almighty not set times^(FC) for judgment?^(FD)
    Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?^(FE)
2 There are those who move boundary stones;^(FF)
    they pasture flocks they have stolen.^(FG)
3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey
    and take the widow’s ox in pledge.^(FH)
4 They thrust the needy^(FI) from the path
    and force all the poor^(FJ) of the land into hiding.^(FK)
5 Like wild donkeys^(FL) in the desert,
    the poor go about their labor^(FM) of foraging food;
    the wasteland^(FN) provides food for their children.
⁶ They gather fodder^(FO) in the fields
    and glean in the vineyards^(FP) of the wicked.^(FQ)
7 Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked;
    they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.^(FR)
8 They are drenched^(FS) by mountain rains
    and hug^(FT) the rocks for lack of shelter.^(FU)
9 The fatherless^(FV) child is snatched^(FW) from the breast;
    the infant of the poor is seized^(FX) for a debt.^(FY)
10 Lacking clothes, they go about naked;^(FZ)
    they carry the sheaves,^(GA) but still go hungry.
¹¹ They crush olives among the terraces^[g];
    they tread the winepresses,^(GB) yet suffer thirst.^(GC)
12 The groans of the dying rise from the city,
    and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.^(GD)
    But God charges no one with wrongdoing.^(GE)

¹³ “There are those who rebel against the light,^(GF)
    who do not know its ways
    or stay in its paths.^(GG)
14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up,
    kills^(GH) the poor and needy,^(GI)
    and in the night steals forth like a thief.^(GJ)
15 The eye of the adulterer^(GK) watches for dusk;^(GL)
    he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’^(GM)
    and he keeps his face concealed.
¹⁶ In the dark, thieves break into houses,^(GN)
    but by day they shut themselves in;
    they want nothing to do with the light.^(GO)
17 For all of them, midnight is their morning;
    they make friends with the terrors^(GP) of darkness.^(GQ)

¹⁸ “Yet they are foam^(GR) on the surface of the water;^(GS)
    their portion of the land is cursed,^(GT)
    so that no one goes to the vineyards.^(GU)
19 As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,^(GV)
    so the grave^(GW) snatches away those who have sinned.
²⁰ The womb forgets them,
    the worm^(GX) feasts on them;^(GY)
the wicked are no longer remembered^(GZ)
    but are broken like a tree.^(HA)
21 They prey on the barren and childless woman,
    and to the widow they show no kindness.^(HB)
22 But God drags away the mighty by his power;^(HC)
    though they become established,^(HD) they have no assurance of life.^(HE)
23 He may let them rest in a feeling of security,^(HF)
    but his eyes^(HG) are on their ways.^(HH)
24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;^(HI)
    they are brought low and gathered up like all others;^(HJ)
    they are cut off like heads of grain.^(HK)

²⁵ “If this is not so, who can prove me false
    and reduce my words to nothing?”^(HL)