Job 20-21

English Standard Version

² “Therefore my ^(B)thoughts answer me,
    because of my haste within me.
³ I hear censure that insults me,
    and out of my understanding a spirit answers me.
⁴ Do you not know this from of old,
    ^(C)since man was placed on earth,
^5 (D)that the exulting of the wicked is short,
    and the joy of the godless but for a moment?
^6 (E)Though his height mount up to the heavens,
    and his head reach to the clouds,
⁷ he will perish forever like his own ^(F)dung;
    those who have seen him will say, ^(G)‘Where is he?’
⁸ He will fly away like ^(H)a dream and not be found;
    he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
^9 (I)The eye that saw him will see him no more,
    nor will his place any more behold him.
¹⁰ His children will seek the favor of the poor,
    and his hands will ^(J)give back his wealth.
¹¹ His bones are full of his ^(K)youthful vigor,
    but it will lie ^(L)down with him in the dust.

¹² “Though evil is sweet in his mouth,
    though he hides it ^(M)under his tongue,
¹³ though he is loath to let it go
    and holds it in his mouth,
¹⁴ yet his food is turned in his stomach;
    it is the venom of ^(N)cobras within him.
¹⁵ He swallows down riches and vomits them up again;
    God casts them out of his belly.
¹⁶ He will suck the poison of cobras;
    ^(O)the tongue of a viper will kill him.
¹⁷ He will not look upon ^(P)the rivers,
    the streams flowing with ^(Q)honey and ^(R)curds.
¹⁸ He will ^(S)give back the fruit of his toil
    and will not ^(T)swallow it down;
from the profit of his trading
    he will get no enjoyment.
¹⁹ For he has crushed and abandoned the poor;
    he has seized a house that he did not build.

²⁰ “Because he ^(U)knew no ^(V)contentment in his belly,
    ^(W)he will not let anything in which he delights escape him.
²¹ There was nothing left after he had eaten;
    therefore his prosperity will not endure.
²² In the fullness of his sufficiency he will be in distress;
    the hand of everyone in misery will come against him.
²³ To fill his belly to the full,
    God^[a] will send his burning anger against him
    and rain it upon him ^(X)into his body.
^24 (Y)He will flee from an iron weapon;
    ^(Z)a bronze arrow will strike ^(AA)him through.
²⁵ It ^(AB)is drawn forth and comes out of his body;
    ^(AC)the glittering point comes out of his ^(AD)gallbladder;
    ^(AE)terrors come upon him.
²⁶ Utter darkness is laid up for his treasures;
    ^(AF)a fire not fanned will devour him;
    what is left in his tent will be consumed.
^27 (AG)The heavens will reveal his iniquity,
    and the earth will rise up against him.
²⁸ The possessions of his house will be carried away,
    dragged off in the day of God's^[b] wrath.
^29 (AH)This is the wicked man's portion from God,
    ^(AI)the heritage decreed for him by God.”

^2 (AJ)“Keep listening to my words,
    and let this be your comfort.
³ Bear with me, and I will speak,
    and after I have spoken, ^(AK)mock on.
⁴ As for me, is my ^(AL)complaint against man?
    Why should I not be impatient?
⁵ Look at me and be appalled,
    and ^(AM)lay your hand over your mouth.
⁶ When I remember, I am dismayed,
    and shuddering seizes my flesh.
^7 (AN)Why do the wicked live,
    reach old age, and grow mighty in power?
⁸ Their ^(AO)offspring are established in their presence,
    and their descendants before their eyes.
⁹ Their houses are ^(AP)safe from fear,
    and ^(AQ)no rod of God is upon them.
¹⁰ Their bull breeds without fail;
    their cow calves and ^(AR)does not miscarry.
¹¹ They send out their ^(AS)little boys like a flock,
    and their children dance.
¹² They sing to ^(AT)the tambourine and ^(AU)the lyre
    and rejoice to the sound of ^(AV)the pipe.
¹³ They ^(AW)spend their days in prosperity,
    and in ^(AX)peace they go down to ^(AY)Sheol.
¹⁴ They say to God, ^(AZ)‘Depart from us!
    We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.
^15 (BA)What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
    And what ^(BB)profit do we get if we pray to him?’
¹⁶ Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand?
    ^(BC)The counsel of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁷ “How often is it that ^(BD)the lamp of the wicked is put out?
    That their calamity comes upon them?
    That God^[c] distributes pains in his anger?
¹⁸ That they are like ^(BE)straw before the wind,
    and like ^(BF)chaff that the storm carries away?
¹⁹ You say, ‘God ^(BG)stores up their iniquity for their ^(BH)children.’
    Let him pay it out to them, that they may ^(BI)know it.
²⁰ Let their own eyes see their destruction,
    and let them ^(BJ)drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
²¹ For what do they care for their houses after them,
    when ^(BK)the number of their months is cut off?
^22 (BL)Will any teach God knowledge,
    seeing that he ^(BM)judges those who are on high?
²³ One dies in his full vigor,
    being wholly at ease and secure,
²⁴ his pails^[d] full of milk
    and ^(BN)the marrow of his bones moist.
²⁵ Another dies in ^(BO)bitterness of soul,
    never having tasted of prosperity.
²⁶ They ^(BP)lie down alike in the dust,
    and ^(BQ)the worms cover them.

²⁷ “Behold, I know your thoughts
    and your schemes to wrong me.
²⁸ For you say, ^(BR)‘Where is the house of the prince?
    Where is ^(BS)the tent in which the wicked lived?’
²⁹ Have you not asked those who travel the roads,
    and do you not accept their testimony
³⁰ that ^(BT)the evil man is spared in the day of calamity,
    that he is rescued in the day of wrath?
³¹ Who declares his way ^(BU)to his face,
    and who ^(BV)repays him for what he has done?
³² When he is ^(BW)carried to the grave,
    watch is kept over his tomb.
^33 (BX)The clods of the valley are sweet to him;
    ^(BY)all mankind follows after him,
    and those who go before him are innumerable.
³⁴ How then will you comfort me with empty nothings?
    There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”