Job 21
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
21 Then Job answered, and said:
2 Hear, I beseech you, my words, and do penance.
3 Suffer me, and I will speak, and after, if you please, laugh at my words.
4 Is my debate against man, that I should not have just reason to be troubled?
5 Hearken to me and be astonished, and lay your finger on your mouth.
6 As for me, when I remember, I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
7 Why then do the wicked live, are they advanced, and strengthened with riches?
8 Their seed continueth before them, a multitude of kinsmen, and of children's children in their sight.
9 Their houses are secure and peaceable, and the rod of God is not upon them.
10 Their cattle have conceived, and failed not: their cow has calved, and is not deprived of her fruit.
11 Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children dance and play.
12 They take the timbrel, and the harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment they go down to hell.
14 Who have said to God: Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what doth it profit us if we pray to him?
16 Yet because their good things are not in their hand, may the counsel of the wicked be far from me.
17 How often shall the lamp of the wicked be put out, and a deluge come upon them, and he shall distribute the sorrows of his wrath?
18 They shall be as chaff before the face of the wind, and as ashes which the whirlwind scattereth.
19 God shall lay up the sorrow of the father for his children: and when he shall repay, then shall he know.
20 His eyes shall see his own destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what is it to him what befalleth his house after him: and if the number of his months be diminished by one half?
22 Shall any one teach God knowledge, who judgeth those that are high?
23 One man dieth strong, and hale, rich and happy.
24 His bowels are full of fat, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
25 But another dieth in bitterness of soul without any riches:
26 And yet they shall sleep together in the dust, and worms shall cover them.
27 Surely I know your thoughts, and your unjust judgments against me.
28 For you say: Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?
29 Ask any one of them that go by the way, and you shall perceive that he knoweth these same things.
30 Because the wicked man is reserved to the day of destruction, and he shall be brought to the day of wrath.
31 Who shall reprove his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
32 He shall be brought to the graves, and shall watch in the heap of the dead.
33 He hath been acceptable to the gravel of Cocytus, and he shall draw every man after him, and there are innumerable before him.
34 How then do ye comfort me in vain, whereas your answer is shewn to be repugnant to truth?
Job 21
English Standard Version
Job Replies: The Wicked Do Prosper
21 Then Job answered and said:
2 (A)“Keep listening to my words,
and let this be your comfort.
3 Bear with me, and I will speak,
and after I have spoken, (B)mock on.
4 As for me, is my (C)complaint against man?
Why should I not be impatient?
5 Look at me and be appalled,
and (D)lay your hand over your mouth.
6 When I remember, I am dismayed,
and shuddering seizes my flesh.
7 (E)Why do the wicked live,
reach old age, and grow mighty in power?
8 Their (F)offspring are established in their presence,
and their descendants before their eyes.
9 Their houses are (G)safe from fear,
and (H)no rod of God is upon them.
10 Their bull breeds without fail;
their cow calves and (I)does not miscarry.
11 They send out their (J)little boys like a flock,
and their children dance.
12 They sing to (K)the tambourine and (L)the lyre
and rejoice to the sound of (M)the pipe.
13 They (N)spend their days in prosperity,
and in (O)peace they go down to (P)Sheol.
14 They say to God, (Q)‘Depart from us!
We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.
15 (R)What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
And what (S)profit do we get if we pray to him?’
16 Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand?
(T)The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17 “How often is it that (U)the lamp of the wicked is put out?
That their calamity comes upon them?
That God[a] distributes pains in his anger?
18 That they are like (V)straw before the wind,
and like (W)chaff that the storm carries away?
19 You say, ‘God (X)stores up their iniquity for their (Y)children.’
Let him pay it out to them, that they may (Z)know it.
20 Let their own eyes see their destruction,
and let them (AA)drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what do they care for their houses after them,
when (AB)the number of their months is cut off?
22 (AC)Will any teach God knowledge,
seeing that he (AD)judges those who are on high?
23 One dies in his full vigor,
being wholly at ease and secure,
24 his pails[b] full of milk
and (AE)the marrow of his bones moist.
25 Another dies in (AF)bitterness of soul,
never having tasted of prosperity.
26 They (AG)lie down alike in the dust,
and (AH)the worms cover them.
27 “Behold, I know your thoughts
and your schemes to wrong me.
28 For you say, (AI)‘Where is the house of the prince?
Where is (AJ)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 (AK)the evil man is spared in the day of calamity,
that he is rescued in the day of wrath?
31 Who declares his way (AL)to his face,
and who (AM)repays him for what he has done?
32 When he is (AN)carried to the grave,
watch is kept over his tomb.
33 (AO)The clods of the valley are sweet to him;
(AP)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.”
Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
