Job’s Reply to Zophar
Job 21
1 Then Job answered:
2 Pay close attention to my words;
let this be the consolation you offer.
then after I have spoken, you may continue mocking.
4 As for me, is my complaint v against a human being?
Then why shouldn’t I be impatient?
5 Look at me and shudder; w
put your hand over your mouth. x
6 When I think about it, I am terrified
and my body trembles y in horror.
7 Why do the wicked continue to live,
growing old and becoming powerful?
8 Their children are established while they are still alive, N
and their descendants, before their eyes.
9 Their homes are secure and free of fear; z
no rod from God strikes them. a
10 Their bulls breed without fail;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
11 They let their little ones run around like lambs;
their children skip about,
12 singing to the tambourine and lyre
and rejoicing at the sound of the flute. b
13 They spend O their days in prosperity c
and go down to Sheol in peace.
14 Yet they say to God, “Leave us alone!
We don’t want to know your ways. d
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him,
and what will we gain by pleading with him? ” e
16 But their prosperity is not of their own doing.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me! f
17 How often is the lamp g of the wicked put out?
Does disaster P come on them?
Does he apportion destruction in his anger?
18 Are they like straw before the wind,
like chaff h a storm sweeps away?
19 God reserves a person’s punishment for his children. i
Let God repay the person himself, so that he may know it.
20 Let his own eyes see his demise;
let him drink from the Almighty’s wrath! j
21 For what does he care about his family once he is dead, k
when the number of his months has run out? l
22 Can anyone teach God knowledge, m
since he judges the exalted ones? Q
23 One person dies in excellent health, R
completely secure S and at ease.
and his bones are full of marrow. V
25 Yet another person dies with a bitter n soul,
having never tasted prosperity.
26 But they both lie in the dust,
and worms cover them. o
27 I know your thoughts very well,
the schemes by which you would wrong me.
28 For you say, “Where now is the nobleman’s house? ”
and “Where are the tents p the wicked lived in? ”
29 Have you never consulted those who travel the roads?
Don’t you accept their reports? W
30 Indeed, the evil person is spared from the day of disaster,
rescued from the day of wrath.
31 Who would denounce his behavior to his face?
Who would repay q him for what he has done?
32 He is carried to the grave,
and someone keeps watch over his tomb.
33 The dirt on his grave is X sweet to him.
Everyone follows behind him,
and those who go before him are without number.
34 So how can you offer me such futile comfort?
Your answers are deceptive.