1 Then Job answered and said:
2 kch. 13:17 “Keep listening to my words,
and let this be your comfort.
3 Bear with me, and I will speak,
and after I have spoken,l[ch. 16:10, 20; 17:2] mock on.
4 As for me, is mymch. 10:1; 23:2 complaint against man?
Why should I not be impatient?
5 Look at me and be appalled,
andnch. 29:9; 40:4; Judg. 18:19 lay your hand over your mouth.
6 When I remember I am dismayed,
and shuddering seizes my flesh.
7 och. 12:6; Ps. 17:14; 37:1, 35; 73:3, 5; 92:7; Eccles. 8:14; Jer. 12:1, 2; Hab. 1:13, 16; Mal. 3:14, 15 Why do the wicked live,
reach old age, and grow mighty in power?
8 Theirp[ch. 5:25] offspring are established in their presence,
and their descendants before their eyes.
9 Their houses areq[ch. 5:24] safe from fear,
andrSee ch. 9:34 no rod of God is upon them.
10 Their bull breeds without fail;
their cow calves andsEx. 23:26 does not miscarry.
11 They send out theirt[Ps. 17:14] little boys like a flock,
and their children dance.
12 They sing touEx. 15:20 the tambourine andvch. 30:31; Gen. 4:21 the lyre
and rejoice to the sound ofvch. 30:31; Gen. 4:21 the pipe.
13 Theywch. 36:11 spend their days in prosperity,
and inxch. 34:20; [ch. 24:19] peace they go down toych. 7:9; 14:13; 17:13; See Ps. 16:10 Sheol.
14 They say to God,zch. 22:17 ‘Depart from us!
We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.
15 a[Ex. 5:2] What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
And whatbSee ch. 34:9 profit do we get if we pray to him? ’
16 Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand?
cch. 22:18; [Ps. 1:1] The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17 How often is it thatdSee ch. 18:5, 6 the lamp of the wicked is put out?
That their calamity comes upon them?
That God distributes pains in his anger?
18 That they are likeech. 13:25; Ps. 83:13 straw before the wind,
and likefPs. 1:4; 35:5; Isa. 17:13; 29:5 chaff that the storm carries away?
19 You say, ‘Godgch. 15:20 stores up their iniquity for theirhEx. 20:5 children. ’
Let him pay it out to them, that they mayiIsa. 9:9; Ezek. 25:14; Hos. 9:7 know it.
20 Let their own eyes see their destruction,
and let themjPs. 60:3; 75:8; Isa. 51:17, 22; Jer. 25:15; Obad. 16; Rev. 14:10 drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what do they care for their houses after them,
whenkch. 14:5 the number of their months is cut off?
22 lIsa. 40:14; Rom. 11:34; 1 Cor. 2:16 Will any teach God knowledge,
seeing that hem[ch. 4:18; 15:15] judges those who are on high?
23 One dies in his full vigor,
being wholly at ease and secure,
24 his pails full of milk
andnProv. 3:8; [Isa. 58:11; 66:14] the marrow of his bones moist.
25 Another dies inoSee ch. 7:11 bitterness of soul,
never having tasted of prosperity.
26 Theypch. 20:11; [Eccles. 9:2] lie down alike in the dust,
andqIsa. 14:11 the worms cover them.
27 Behold, I know your thoughts
and your schemes to wrong me.
28 For you say,r[ch. 20:6, 7] ‘Where is the house of the prince?
Where iss[ch. 8:22; 15:34] 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 thatt[Prov. 16:4; 2 Pet. 2:9] the evil man is spared in the day of calamity,
that he is rescued in the day of wrath?
31 Who declares his wayuDeut. 7:10; Hos. 5:5; Gal. 2:11 to his face,
and whovDeut. 7:10 repays him for what he has done?
32 When he iswch. 10:19 carried to the grave,
watch is kept over his tomb.
33 xch. 38:38 The clods of the valley are sweet to him;
y[ch. 30:23; Heb. 9:27] 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. ”