Read Amplified Bible, 2015 Job 21 Bible Online

Job 21 - Amplified Bible, 2015 bible

Job 21

¹Then Job answered and said,

²"Listen carefully to my speech, And let this be the consolation.

³"Bear with me, and I also will speak; And after I have spoken, you may [continue to] mock [me].

⁴"As for me, is my complaint to man or about him? And why should I not be impatient and my spirit troubled?

⁵"Look at me and be astonished and appalled; And put your hand over your mouth.

⁶"Even when I remember, I am troubled and afraid; Horror and trembling take hold of my flesh.

⁷"Why do the wicked still live, Become old, and become mighty in power?

⁸"Their children and descendants are established with them in their sight, And their offspring before their eyes.

⁹"Their houses are safe from fear; And the rod of God is not on them.

¹⁰"His bull breeds and does not fail; His cow calves and does not miscarry.

¹¹"They send forth their little ones like a flock, And their children skip about.

¹²"They lift up their voices and sing to the tambourine and the lyre And rejoice to the sound of the flute.

¹³"They fully enjoy their days in prosperity, And so go down to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) in a [peaceful] moment.

¹⁴"Yet they say to God, 'Depart from us, For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways.

¹⁵'Who [and what] is[1] the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what would we gain if we plead with Him?'

¹⁶"But notice, the prosperity of the wicked is not in their hand (in their power); The counsel of the wicked [and the mystery of God's dealings with the ungodly] is far from my comprehension.

¹⁷"How often [then] is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out, And that their disaster falls on them? Does God distribute pain and destruction and sorrow [to them] in His anger?

¹⁸"Are they like straw before the wind, And like chaff that the storm steals and carries away?

¹⁹"You say, 'God stores away [the punishment of] man's wickedness for his children.' Let God repay him so that he may know and experience it.

²⁰"Let his own eyes see his destruction, And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

²¹"For what pleasure does he have in his house and family after he is dead, When the number of his months [of life] is cut off?

²²"Can anyone teach God knowledge, Seeing that He judges those on high?

²³"One dies in his full strength, Being wholly at ease and quiet and satisfied;

²⁴His pails are full of milk [his sides are filled out with fat], And the marrow of his bones is moist,

²⁵Whereas another dies with a bitter soul, Never even tasting pleasure or good fortune.

²⁶"Together they lie down in the dust, And the worms cover them.

²⁷"Behold, I know your thoughts, And the plots by which you would wrong me.

²⁸"For you say, 'Where is the house of the noble man? And where is the tent, the dwelling place of the wicked?'

²⁹"Have you not asked those who travel this way, And do you not recognize their witness?

³⁰"That evil men are [now] reserved for the day of disaster and destruction, They will be led away on the day of [God's] wrath?

³¹"But who will confront him with his actions and rebuke him face to face, And who will repay him for what he has done?

³²"When he is carried to his grave, A guard will keep watch over his tomb.

³³"The [dirt] clods of the valley are sweet to him [and gently cover him], Moreover, all men will follow after him [to a grave], While countless ones go before him.

³⁴"How then can you vainly comfort me with empty words, Since your answers remain untrue?"