| Chapter 21 |
| But Job
answered and said, |
| Hear
diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations. |
| Suffer me that I may speak; and after
that I have spoken, mock on. |
| As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled? |
|
Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth. |
| Even when I remember I am afraid, and
trembling taketh hold on my flesh. |
| Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in
power? |
| Their seed is
established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes. |
| Their houses are
safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. |
| Their bull gendereth, and faileth not;
their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf. |
| They send forth their little ones like a flock, and
their children dance. |
|
They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. |
| They spend their days in
wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. |
| Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we
desire not the knowledge of thy ways. |
| What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and
what profit should we have, if we pray unto him? |
| Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of
the wicked is far from me. |
| How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger. |
| They are as stubble before the wind,
and as chaff that the storm carrieth away. |
| God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he
rewardeth him, and he shall know it. |
| His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the
wrath of the Almighty. |
|
For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst? |
| Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are
high. |
| One dieth in
his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. |
| His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are
moistened with marrow. |
|
And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure. |
| They shall
lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them. |
| Behold, I know your thoughts, and the
devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me. |
| For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and
where are the dwelling places of the wicked? |
| Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye
not know their tokens, |
|
That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath. |
| Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him
what he hath done? |
|
Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb. |
| The clods of the valley shall
be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him. |
| How then
comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood? |