Job Chapter 21 (NIV)

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undefined JobThen Job replied:

undefined “Listen carefully to my words;let this be the consolation you give me.

undefined Bear with me while I speak,and after I have spoken, mock on.

undefined “Is my complaint directed to man?Why should I not be impatient?

undefined Look at me and be astonished;clap your hand over your mouth.

undefined When I think about this, I am terrified;trembling seizes my body.

undefined Why do the wicked live on,growing old and increasing in power?

undefined They see their children established around them,their offspring before their eyes.

undefined Their homes are safe and free from fear;the rod of God is not upon them.

undefined Their bulls never fail to breed;their cows calve and do not miscarry.

undefined They send forth their children as a flock;their little ones dance about.

undefined They sing to the music of tambourine and harp;they make merry to the sound of the flute.

undefined They spend their years in prosperityand go down to the grave in peace.

undefined Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone!We have no desire to know your ways.

undefined Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?What would we gain by praying to him?’

undefined But their prosperity is not in their own hands,so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked.

undefined “Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?How often does calamity come upon them,the fate God allots in his anger?

undefined How often are they like straw before the wind,like chaff swept away by a gale?

undefined It is said, ‘God stores up a man’s punishment for his sons.’Let him repay the man himself, so that he will know it!

undefined Let his own eyes see his destruction;let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

undefined For what does he care about the family he leaves behindwhen his allotted months come to an end?

undefined “Can anyone teach knowledge to God,since he judges even the highest?

undefined One man dies in full vigor,completely secure and at ease,

undefined his body well nourished,his bones rich with marrow.

undefined Another man dies in bitterness of soul,never having enjoyed anything good.

undefined Side by side they lie in the dust,and worms cover them both.

undefined “I know full well what you are thinking,the schemes by which you would wrong me.

undefined You say, ‘Where now is the great man’s house,the tents where wicked men lived?’

undefined Have you never questioned those who travel?Have you paid no regard to their accounts—

undefined that the evil man is spared from the day of calamity,that he is delivered from the day of wrath?

undefined Who denounces his conduct to his face?Who repays him for what he has done?

undefined He is carried to the grave,and watch is kept over his tomb.

undefined The soil in the valley is sweet to him;all men follow after him,and a countless throng goes before him.

undefined “So how can you console me with your nonsense?Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”

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